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
    2014-01-23T22:13:46+00:00

    Here is the answer that worked for me:

    1. Start with Nick Evans' suggestion to get the numbers back from oblivion.

    -- Note, Nick's solution is only temporary. Once you save the doc and reopen, the black oblivion will return.

    1. After converting the numbers back to normal, save the doc as a Word 2003 .doc. Reopening the document should show that the issue has gone away.

    From there, you can try to convert back to the 2010 format, or just leave it as is. Whenever I convert back to standard 2010 format, the bug reasserts itself. Sticking with 2003 for the duration.

    The root cause is a painful bug. The fact that this has been going on for years and there is no update for it is truly an indicator of the level of service we can expect from Microsoft. The hours and hours lost and anxiety encountered by people who have put so much time and effort into getting their document to look properly, only to find it corrupted with no 'official' fix is unbelievable. We, the users, have to come up with workarounds and support each other as though we're part of an open development project. I'd expect this for a free tool, but for a fairly expensive and extremely mature product, this is unacceptable.

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-02-18T14:17:27+00:00

    Or:

    1. Select the heading in the text with the black box and delete the numbering
    2. Select the heading in the text and update the heading in the styles with the current selected heading. Now the numbering should disappear!
    3. Select the heading in the text and add numbering (don't forget to change the list depth)
    4. Select the heading in the text with added numbering and update the heading in the styles with the current selected heading

    This fixed it for me!

    I hope i translated all options correct, because I'm using a different language!

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