Word 2010 - list number style wont restart at 1

Anonymous
2013-01-29T15:06:46+00:00

I am using the default list numbering in a pretty basic but large (450 page) document.  No macros, no custom styles...I am simply using the default headers and the list numbering.

the trouble all started when i decided it would look better to left align the list numbering.  When I have done this type of thing with regular headers there has never been a problem.  You can easily apply new formatting and apply to the entire document. 

With the List Number style this didnt work.  I found online a suggestion of using the Set Numbering Value at 1 each time which I have been doing for over 2 weeks now but the lists keep reassigning the starting numbers arbitrarily so some lists start at 98 and others at 74 and on and on.  I keep changing them back to start at 1 but again they reset themselvs.

This is an instruction manual so there are alot of short lists (steps on what to do) within alot of sections.

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-09-11T09:55:06+00:00

    If you use a list style without paragraph styles for each numbering levels, the default is to restart level 1 when there is "intervening" text. Are you seeing something different?

    Yes and no.  It is set to restart, but it is set to start at a number which is one more than the last instance, instead of restarting at 1 (or a or i, etc.)

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  2. Stefan Blom 353.5K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2013-09-11T06:59:22+00:00

    I'm glad you got it sorted.

    You have probably been lucky before. Ad hoc numbering has been unpredictable for years.

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-09-11T06:44:51+00:00

    The best solution is to use multilevel lists set up according to the instructions on Shauna Kelly's site (even when you just need multiple lists rather than multi-level lists). You have to follow all of the instructions, step-by-step.

    I suspect that is why Stefan is recommending setting up a template. You do it once for the template and base your future documents on that template. (It is how I handle it.)

    Once you have the template, things work fine.

    I have used Shauna Kelly's procedure, and finally have things working.  Still, this is way too much work for a short, inherited document, and I don't understand why ad hoc numbering no longer works the way it used to.

    Templates are fine, but they don't help me to fix poorly structured documents I inherit from others.

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  4. Charles Kenyon 171.1K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2013-09-10T19:36:29+00:00

    I am now using multi-level lists, but still can't get this to work.

    Numbering has been broken at least since Word 2010, if not 2007.

    Numbering has been broken since Word 97, in that the simple buttons and menu controls in Word do not give a response that you would expect in heavily-edited documents. The technical term is "spaghetti numbering."

    Numbering in Microsoft Word

    The best solution is to use multilevel lists set up according to the instructions on Shauna Kelly's site (even when you just need multiple lists rather than multi-level lists). You have to follow all of the instructions, step-by-step.

    I suspect that is why Stefan is recommending setting up a template. You do it once for the template and base your future documents on that template. (It is how I handle it.)

    Once you have the template, things work fine.

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  5. Stefan Blom 353.5K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2013-09-10T18:18:36+00:00

    Numbering has always been tricky in Word. The user interface for numbering is certainly more confusing in the ribbon interface (misleading commands, as mentioned previously, is only part of this), but the underlying mechanism hasn't changed. (What has changed is that the numbering is more stable compared to older versions of Word, assuming that you follow the "rules" in Shauna Kelly's article.)

    When numbering is attached to paragraph styles, level 1 items don't restart (unless you manually restart them). If you use a list style without paragraph styles for each numbering levels, the default is to restart level 1 when there is "intervening" text. Are you seeing something different?

    I recommend setting up a template. It's necessary when you want to reuse outline numbering in Word.

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