Word 2010 blacking out numbering for Heading 3 in body and TOC

And actually, here is a solution which works.

1. Find a document which has the correct formatting in it.
2. Save it as a template
3. In the corrupted (for that is what it is) document go to the styles dialog box. The easiest way to do this is to use CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+S, otherwise you have to find your way through the poxy ribbon
4. Hit the manage style button at the bottom of the box (right hand one of the three)
5. Hit import/export
6. in the right hand window of the box which appears, hit close file
7. Now navigate to the uncorrupted document and select it.
8. In the scroll box above navigate to the style you want to fix and click on it (single click)
9. The copy arrow should now poin to the right, toward teh corrupt document
10. Hit copy
11. Say yes to everything
12. Close all dialog boxes

This fixed it for me, hopefully it will work for you.

That may not be a permanent fix.

The problem occurs because the font characteristics in the list template have become corrupted and is best fixed by running a macro containing the following code:

For Each templ In ActiveDocument.ListTemplates

    For Each lev In templ.ListLevels

        lev.Font.Reset

    Next lev

Next templ

See the article "How to create numbered headings or outline numbering in your Microsoft Word document" on the following page of fellow MVP Shauna Kelly's website:

http://www.ShaunaKelly.com/word/numbering/OutlineNumbering.html

If you create a template to hold your numbering scheme, you can use that template as the basis for new documents (using File > New) and the new documents will then inherit your numbering scheme. To do that, see:

Creating a Template - The Basics (Part I) at:

http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/CreateATemplatePart1.htm

and Creating a Template (Part II) at:

http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/CreateATemplatePart2.htm