2026-06-29 · all guides

Table of Contents: Print vs Ebook, and Why You Need Both Kinds

One name, two different objects

In a print book, the table of contents is a page in the front matter listing chapters against print page numbers, and its job is random access: a reader flips to page 147 with their thumb. In an ebook, there are no fixed pages, because EPUB text reflows to fit the device and the font size the reader chooses, so a page number is meaningless. The ebook equivalent is a set of hyperlinks: tap the chapter title, land at the chapter.

This is why you cannot export one file and call both editions done. A print TOC pasted into an ebook shows page numbers that correspond to nothing, one of the most reliable signs of a careless conversion. Each edition needs the TOC built for its medium.

The print TOC: build it last

The cardinal rule of a print contents page is that it reflects final pagination. Every change to margins, font size, or chapter text can shift page numbers, so the TOC is verified last, after the interior is otherwise frozen. Hand-typed contents pages go stale silently; if you work in a word processor, use the automatic TOC feature driven by heading styles and refresh it as the final step before exporting the PDF.

Design-wise, keep it simple: chapter number, chapter title, page number, one line each, set in the same serif as the body or slightly smaller. Dot leaders between title and number are traditional but optional. For nonfiction, listing only chapters is normal; include subheadings only if the book is a reference readers will dip into, since a two-level TOC doubles its length. The contents page traditionally begins on a recto and shows a roman numeral folio or none.

The ebook TOC: actually two TOCs

A correct EPUB carries two tables of contents. The first is the navigation document, nav.xhtml in EPUB 3, a machine-readable list the reading system uses to power its built-in menu, the one that appears when a Kindle or Apple Books reader taps the contents icon. The second is the optional HTML contents page inside the book flow, a visible page of links readers can tap like any other page. Retailers expect the navigation document; KDP checks that ebook navigation works and flags broken or missing TOCs as quality issues.

Both versions are links to chapter anchors, never page numbers. If you convert from a word processor file, the heading styles become the source of those anchors, which is one more reason to style chapter titles with real heading styles instead of manually bolded text: the conversion tools build the navigation from the heading structure.

Keeping the two editions in sync

The practical risk of maintaining two editions is drift: you rename chapter 7 in the print file and forget the ebook, or add an appendix to one edition only. The fix is workflow, not vigilance. Keep a single master manuscript with styled headings, generate both outputs from it, and regenerate both TOCs on every export. Never edit chapter titles inside an exported file.

This is also a place where generated books quietly beat hand-built ones, because the structure exists as data before either file exists. ebookdone builds the print TOC with real page numbers and the EPUB navigation from the same outline, so the two editions cannot disagree. If you format by hand instead, add a final pre-upload check: refresh the print TOC against the final PDF, and tap every link in the ebook TOC on an actual device or the KDP previewer.

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