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.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-07-12T16:14:16+00:00

    This is exactly what I need as well. I thought this was possible but I must have used something similar to this in FrameMaker. I need the ability to create a style ('ListParaStart') that uses numbering but restarts the numbering at 1. This would save me a huge amount of clean-up editing time in our documents. I am really surprise there is not an option for this.

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-07-12T16:33:04+00:00

    I'm trying to accomplish that same as kDeborah. Now taking a look at using the Multi-Level List, which I am somewhat familiar with thanks to ShaunaKelley's very helpful page.  I don't actually need a multi level list. I just need a way for the numbers to restart at one after a 'trigger'. I was hoping that the trigger could be set up in the Modify Multi-Level List dialog box by the 'Restart list after' option, and that I could supply a range of paragraph styles there (Header 1, Header 2, etc.).  

    That way, I could use a single paragraph style (set up with the above) for all numbered lists in the user guide, and whenever the numbered list hits a particilar type of subsequent paragraph style, it will reset to 1. I am pretty sure I have experienced this functionality in other word processing software.

    Unfortunately 'Restart list after' is greyed out at the Level 1 setting, where I need it. I don't need and sublevels. And it looks like even if it was available, it would only allow me to select one style.  In this document, a numbered list of instructions could be followed by Heading 1, Heading 2, or lower heading, depending on where in the document it is located.

    I am interested in hearing the creative thoughts of others. I'm using Word 2010. Maybe a newer version will get me what I need?

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  3. Stefan Blom 353.5K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2013-07-12T22:47:49+00:00

    Restarting in a multilevel list is determined by the numbering levels (for example, you can have level 2 numbering be restarted by level 1). If numbering levels are attached to paragraph styles, then in practice a style is restarting another style.

    Note that the level/style that restarts the list doesn't have to be numbered itself, but it must be part of the multilevel list.

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-09-09T08:26:48+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.

    In Word 2013, I can't find a way to have each subsidiary level in a multi-level list automatically restart at 1 for each new group of paragraphs preceded by a higher-level paragraph.  This is the logical behavior, and was also the way previous versions of Word behaved.

    In Word 2013, each new group of (indented) paragraphs begins with a paragraph set to "restart", but the value is always set to the next value after the last occurrence, which defeats the purpose of a restart!

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  5. Stefan Blom 353.5K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2013-09-09T10:04:18+00:00

    Click in the first level 1 item in your list. Click Home tab | Multilevel List | Define New Multilevel List (yes, the command is misleading). In the dialog box, verify that level 2 is set to restart after level 1, that level 3 is set to restart after level 2, etc.

    Also, how are you applying your list? Was it created with a list style? With a paragraph style for each numbering level?

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