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

Anonymous
2011-06-08T17:59:36+00:00

My boss gave me a document to fix. Word 2010 has started blacking out (black box) the number for Heading 3 headers in the body and the TOC. I make the blocking go away by modifying the style numbering, but I can't get the numbering to work properly (won't let me set the numbering at X.X.X for Heading 3).

Has anyone seen this black-blocking on header level numbers (and do you know how to fix it)?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2011-08-16T10:52:02+00:00

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.

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Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 323.6K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
2015-12-02T00:29:16+00:00

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

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Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 323.6K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
2011-06-08T22:22:40+00:00

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

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-01-27T02:37:07+00:00

    Simpler fix again. Clean it up using LibreOffice.

    I couldn't open all pages of the corrupted document in LibreOffice in .docx format, but this worked:

    • In MS Word, save in .doc format
    • Open .doc file in LibreOffice
    • Erroneous text is interpreted simply as white text with a black highlight. Change text and highlight colours.
    • Save
    • Re-open in Word

    The new file is no longer corrupted, and the preferences can be opened without triggering the "1 to 600" error.

    Bugs like this are why I keep a copy of LibreOffice on my computer to work around all the inevitable problems with MS Office. The interface is less slick, but underneath it seems more robust and can often fix or work around problems MS Office has caused.

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-01-18T17:19:06+00:00

    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.

    Thank you. This worked for me. I was using Word 2010 to write my PhD thesis. Just completed the document merge to put all my Chapters in one doc. Saved it. Opened it up the next morning and.... black boxes instead of numbers on all Heading 3. 220 pages worth... Agh... Thank you. It all looks fine again now...

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