TOC - some headings are repeated again at the end of TOC

[#1]

Recently I encountered a problem when updating TOC:
I get the message "Do you want the table of contents to include items in overset text?" and the thing is I do not see anything as overset text - anyway, when I click 'yes', then I get all headings in TOC and even too much (too many headings)... (EXAMPLE: the last 'main' heading is "9", but then I get all headings starting with "5.2" repeated again in TOC).
If I choose "no" ("Do you want table...?") - then, TOC looks fine; however, the problem exists and I would like to find the root cause.

I would be grateful for any ideas... maybe someone had a similar problem?

[#2]

Recently I encountered a problem when updating TOC:
I get the message "Do you want the table of contents to include items in overset text?" and the thing is I do not see anything as overset text - anyway, when I click 'yes', then I get all headings in TOC and even too much (too many headings)... (EXAMPLE: the last 'main' heading is "9", but then I get all headings starting with "5.2" repeated again in TOC).
If I choose "no" ("Do you want table...?") - then, TOC looks fine; however, the problem exists and I would like to find the root cause.

I would be grateful for any ideas... maybe someone had a similar problem?

[#3]

One extra thing.. I noticed that if the last frame in the document is "with overset text", then TOC works fine. However, if I fix the 'overset text' by adding a frame to fit the text, then the problem described above occurs.

I tried cleaning formatting, removing the last paragraph, but nothing seems to work...

[#4]

Could you share your InDesign file with us?

[#5]

I'm sorry but this is a corporate document and I cannot share that file now. 

I can tell you that I've been trying many things - removing/adding new text frames & deleting/inserting new pages, pasting content in a new document without formatting ..

whenever I have at least one "Overset text" ERROR in the file, then the TOC is working.. if I don't have any errors in the document, then TOC looks weird (heading from certain point repeated over and over again in TOC).

[#6]

It's clear enough that the overset text contains these things. 

You can find overset text using the Preflight Panel https://indesignsecrets.com/how-to-find-overset-text-in-indesign-fast.php

[#7]

Yeah, unfortunately that's not the case... there is no overset text (Preflight shows no errors)

I was also looking at 'story editor' and nothing unusual over there.

[#8]

The TOC typically doesn't lie. So there must be some text that is overset that is formatted using styles that the TOC feature is grabbing. Double check the style that is applied to that text. Sometimes it may not look like the text that the TOC is grabbing but is actually formatted using an overridden style. Also, depending on how your book is organized, sometimes you may need to create another style called "Heading No TOC" or something to that effect to prevent the TOC from pulling in that text that you don't want included in the TOC.

[#9]

I already have styles for headings included in TOC (and styles for "fake" headings not included in TOC); however, the issue is that headings are repeated in order (indefinitely) and there is no overset text in the document.

My problem looks more or less like that: 

1 - Heading 1

1.1 - Subheading 1

1.2 - Subheading 2

1.3 - Subheading 3

2 - Heading 2

2.1 ..

2.2..

2.3..

3 - Heading 3

3.1 ..

3.2...

4 - Heading 4 (the last chapter in the document)

1.3 - Subheading 3

2 - Heading 2

2.1 ..

2.2..

2.3..

3 - Heading 3

3.1 ..

3.2...

4 - Heading 4

1.3 - Subheading 3

2 - Heading 2

2.1 ..

2.2..

2.3..

3 - Heading 3

3.1 ..

3.2...

4 - Heading 4

(...) and it's repeated over and over again..

As you can see from the example given above, headings are repeated and TOC takes headings from "1.3 and repeats the rest over and over again".

[#10 · Accepted solution]

regarding the page numbers in your TOC, are they also correct where the headings repeat themselves?

Could you replace your text with placeholder text at least up to the first heading that repeats and share the file with us?

Could you try to save your file as idml and then open it and save as a new indd file?

[#11]

yes, page numbering is correct (for those repeating headings)

Ok, I will prepare the file with placeholder text ASAP

[#12]

I edited my post a minute ago and you may not have seen it.
I was wondering if you can save your file as idml