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Thesis/Dissertation Consultant

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Thesis/Dissertation website » MS Word Captions


Microsoft Word Table/Figure Captions

Microsoft Word can be used to generate your list of tables and list of figures. To accomplish this you must apply captions to the tables and figures. Follow these steps:

  1. Click on the table or figure to select it.
  2. In Word 2007, click the “References” tab and then click the “Insert Caption” button on the “Captions” menu.
    *Note: In Word 2003, click the “Insert” tab in the Word document. Select “Reference” and then “Caption”.
  3. In the caption window you may choose “table” or “figure” as the label. Choose the appropriate label. The figure label should be set to appear below the figure and the table label is set to appear above the table. These are the correct settings.
  4. You may choose to number the tables/figures sequentially or select “Include chapter number”. In Word 2007, you can choose whether or not to include the chapter number by clicking on the “Numbering” button on the bottom right corner of the Captions window.
  5. If you choose to number your tables/figures by chapter, you must use “Bullets and Numbering” to number your chapters. This is the only way Word knows when one chapter ends and another begins. See this page for more information on how to include chapter numbers in captions.
  6. Type the table/figure caption in the box provided.
  7. Click “OK”. You may have to modify the style of the caption to match the font for the text. You can simply highlight the caption and change the font.
  8. To generate the list of tables/list of figures, place your cursor on the page you intend to become either the list of tables/list of figures.
  9. In Word 2007, click the “References” tab, and then select “Insert Table of Figures”.
    *Note: In Word 2003, click the “Insert” tab in the Word document. Select “Reference”, then “Index and Tables”. Choose the “Table of Figures” tab in the “Index and Tables” window.
  10. Choose the correct label for the list (table for list of tables, figure for list of figures).
  11. Click “OK”.
  12. Update the lists by right-clicking on the list and choosing “Update field”. Choose to either update the entire table or update page numbers only.

Modified from “Using Adobe Acrobat 7.0 to Create an Electronic Thesis or Dissertation” by P.J. Snodgrass, 2005.

Contact The Consultant

111 Student Services Bldg.
Knoxville, TN 37996
Phone: (865) 974-1337
Email (preferred): thesis@utk.edu

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