# Table of Authorities in Google Docs or Pages: What to Do Instead

> Google Docs and Apple Pages have no Table of Authorities feature. Your options: a manual table, export to PDF and build from it, and dot leaders that work.

*Updated: 2026-09-24*

**The short answer:** neither Google Docs nor Apple Pages has a Table of Authorities (TOA) feature. Both can generate a table of *contents* from headings, but neither can mark citations or compile a list of authorities with page references. Your realistic options are to build the TOA by hand inside the document, to export the finished brief to PDF and build the TOA from that PDF, or to move the brief into Word on Windows, which has Mark Citation built in. Whichever you choose, finish the brief first: every edit after the TOA is built can move page numbers.

This page covers what each app offers, the workarounds people actually use, how to get proper dot leaders in each app, and the mistakes that most often end up in a filed brief.

**Key facts**

- Google Docs: table of contents only; no citation marking and no TOA.
- Apple Pages: table of contents only. An Apple Community answer puts it plainly: "Pages is not a Word clone and only offers a Table of Contents."
- Microsoft says Tables of Authorities "aren't supported in Word for Mac or Word for the web"; the built-in feature is in Word for Windows.
- FRAP 28(a)(3) requires a table of authorities with "references to the pages of the brief where they are cited", so page accuracy is the whole job.
- Pages supports tab stops with dot leaders. Google Docs has tab stops on the ruler, but its tab settings do not offer a dot-leader option like Word and Pages do.
- Exporting to PDF freezes the pagination, which makes the PDF the most reliable thing to index.

## What each editor can and cannot do

| Editor | TOA feature | Table of contents | Tab stops with dot leaders |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Word for Windows | Yes (Mark Citation, Insert Table of Authorities) | Yes | Yes |
| Word for Mac | Officially unsupported; some builds still show a legacy dialog | Yes | Yes |
| Word for the web | No (officially unsupported) | Yes | Limited |
| Google Docs | No | Yes | No native leader option |
| Apple Pages | No | Yes | Yes (Format › Layout › Tabs › Leader) |

The table of contents feature in Docs and Pages is built from heading styles. It is useful for the brief's table of contents, but it cannot be bent into a TOA: authorities are not headings, they appear many times, and a TOA needs every page for each one, grouped by category.

## What people actually do

- **Build it by hand in the document.** Keep a running list of authorities while drafting, then search the final document for each one and type the pages. Works for a short brief; error-prone for a long one, because page numbers in a live document shift with every edit.
- **Track authorities in a spreadsheet.** A Google Sheets or Numbers file with one row per authority and a column for pages makes sorting and categorizing easier, but the page numbers still have to be checked against the final version.
- **Look for an add-on.** Search the Google Workspace Marketplace yourself and read each listing. We have not verified a Google Docs add-on that builds a TOA, so we do not name one here. Any add-on that does this must read the full text of your brief; check its permissions and privacy terms before using it on confidential work.
- **Move the brief to Word on Windows.** Download the Google Doc as .docx or export from Pages to Word, then use Word's Mark Citation workflow. Expect to clean up formatting after conversion, and budget time for marking every citation.
- **Export to PDF and build the TOA from the PDF.** The PDF has final, fixed pagination, so page references taken from it match what you file. This is the method we recommend for Docs and Pages users.

## The export-to-PDF method, step by step

- **1. Finish the brief.** Content, formatting and front matter should be final. Leave a placeholder page (or pages) for the TOA of roughly the right length, so inserting it later does not push the body.
- **2. Export.** In Google Docs: File › Download › PDF Document (.pdf). In Pages: File › Export To › PDF.
- **3. Note the page offset.** The printed page numbers on the brief, not the PDF viewer's counter, are what the TOA uses. Roman-numeral front matter usually means the body's page 1 is several pages into the file.
- **4. Index the PDF.** Search it for every authority (Preview: ⌘F; Acrobat: Shift-⌘F for Advanced Search), including short forms, *Id.* and *supra*, and record printed pages. Or use a tool that reads the PDF page by page and lets you review the result.
- **5. Put the TOA into the document.** Paste or type it into the placeholder page in Docs or Pages and format it (see below).
- **6. Export again and check.** Make sure the TOA fits its placeholder and the body did not move. If it did, recheck the page references.

The detailed version of step 4, including OCR caveats and how roman numerals shift page numbers, is in our guide to [building a table of authorities from a PDF](/table-of-authorities-from-pdf).

## Formatting a TOA with dot leaders

### In Apple Pages

Pages supports real dot leaders. Apple's guide describes the steps: click the ruler to add a tab stop near the right margin, Control-click the tab-stop marker and choose right alignment, then open the Format sidebar, click **Layout**, open **Tabs**, and in the **Leader** column choose the dotted style. Type each entry as authority name, a tab, then the page numbers. Apply the setting to a paragraph style (for example, "TOA Entry") so every entry matches, and add a hanging indent for long case names that wrap.

### In Google Docs

Google Docs lets you set left, center and right tab stops on the ruler, but its tab settings do not offer a leader character, so you cannot get automatic dots. The common workarounds, each with a cost:

| Workaround | How | Downside |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Right-aligned tab, no dots | Right tab stop at the margin; authority, tab, pages | Looks clean but lacks leaders; check whether your court or office expects them |
| Two-column borderless table | Authority in the left column, pages right-aligned in the right column | No dots; long names wrap inside the cell |
| Typed periods | Type dots between name and page | Breaks whenever font, margin or text changes; hard to line up |
| Finish in Word or Pages | Build the TOA page elsewhere with real leaders and merge PDFs | Extra step, and you must keep page numbering continuous |

## Pitfalls that end up in filed briefs

- **Using the PDF viewer's page number** instead of the printed number. Off by the length of the front matter every time.
- **Building the TOA before the last edit.** A late paragraph on page 6 moves every authority after it.
- **The TOA pushes the body.** If the TOA ends up longer than its placeholder and the body is numbered continuously, pages shift. Use separate roman numbering for front matter or reserve enough space.
- **Missing short forms, *Id.* and *supra*.** Searching the full citation finds the first appearance and not much else.
- **Mixed categories.** Statutes filed under cases, or rules under statutes. Use the headings your court expects.
- **Conversion damage.** A brief moved from Docs or Pages to Word can change fonts, spacing and page breaks, which changes page numbers. Rebuild or recheck after any conversion.
- **Inconsistent *passim*.** Choose a threshold and apply it to every entry.

> **Common misconception:** "The Table of contents tool in Google Docs or Pages can make a TOA if I tag the citations as headings." It cannot do it properly. It would list each citation once, in document order, with a single page, and it would put citations into your table of contents structure. A TOA needs every page for each authority, grouped by category and alphabetized.

> **Where BriefAuthority fits:** BriefAuthority is in development and not available to buy yet. It is designed for the export-to-PDF method: it reads the final PDF from Google Docs, Pages or Word in your browser, maps printed page numbers including roman front matter, detects authorities, and shows a review screen before exporting a .docx TOA with dot leaders. The brief is not uploaded. It formats and indexes only; it does not check whether citations are good law. Specification as designed; confirmed at launch. Planned price $39 one-time or $9 per brief; early access is open at /early-access.

## Frequently asked

**Does Google Docs have a table of authorities feature?**

No. Google Docs can insert a table of contents built from headings, but it has no citation marking and no Table of Authorities. You need to build the TOA by hand, from an exported PDF, or in Word for Windows.

**How do I make a table of authorities in Pages on a Mac?**

Pages has no TOA feature, only a table of contents. Finish the brief, export it to PDF (File › Export To › PDF), find every authority and its printed page numbers in the PDF, then type the TOA into Pages using a right-aligned tab stop with a dot leader.

**Is there a Google Docs add-on for a table of authorities?**

We have not verified one, so we do not recommend any by name. If you find one in the Google Workspace Marketplace, read its listing, and remember it has to read your whole brief; check permissions and privacy terms before using it on confidential documents.

**How do I add dot leaders in Google Docs?**

Google Docs does not offer a leader option on its tab stops. Common workarounds are a right-aligned tab with no dots, a two-column borderless table, or typed periods. If your court or office expects dot leaders, build that page in Pages or Word.

**Can I convert my Google Doc to Word to use Mark Citation?**

Yes: File › Download › Microsoft Word (.docx), then open it in Word for Windows. Conversion can change fonts, spacing and page breaks, so fix formatting before marking citations, and recheck page numbers at the end.

**Why do my TOA page numbers change after I paste in the table?**

If the TOA is longer than the space you left and your page numbering is continuous, inserting it pushes the body later. Use separate roman-numeral numbering for front matter, reserve enough placeholder pages, and recheck after the final export.

**Related guides**

- [How to make a Table of Authorities from a PDF](/table-of-authorities-from-pdf) — Printed vs PDF page numbers, OCR caveats and the manual method.
- [How to make a Table of Authorities on a Mac](/how-to-make-a-table-of-authorities-on-a-mac) — Options when Word for Mac does not officially support TOAs.
- [Word for Mac and the Table of Authorities](/word-for-mac-table-of-authorities) — What Microsoft supports and what the legacy dialog does.
- [Table of Authorities rules](/table-of-authorities-rules) — What FRAP 28 and the Supreme Court rules require.
- [How BriefAuthority works](/how-it-works) — From final PDF to a reviewed .docx TOA.
- [Early access](/early-access) — Get the launch price first.

**Sources**

- [Microsoft Support — Create a table of authorities](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/word/create-a-table-of-authorities)
- [Apple Support — Set tab stops in Pages on Mac](https://support.apple.com/guide/pages/set-tab-stops-tan39ebf390a/mac)
- [Apple Community — Table of Authorities in Pages](https://discussions.apple.com/thread/254989283)
- [Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 28 (Cornell LII)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frap/rule_28)
- [Reddit r/paralegal — What do you use to create a table of authorities?](https://www.reddit.com/r/paralegal/comments/1q5jm2q/what_do_you_use_to_create_table_of_authorities/)