Because it's a field. Fields are automatically controlled by
Word--because the TOC is a field, for instance, any changes you manually
make to the text will be erased when Word updates the field. So Word
reminds you this text behaves differently by tinting fields gray.
It won't print gray, and whether it shows gray on anyone else's computer
depends on their settings, not yours.
You can change the "field shading" setting in Word | Preferences | View
to control it.
> Version: 2004
> Operating System: Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)
> Processor: intel
>
> When I create/add to a table of contents, the text is 'highlighted' in gray. I have fiddled with all the settings and cannot figure out how to make it white! Please help