Sequential numbering in word

Asked by: Prof. Margarete Homenick

Score: 4.7/5
(44 votes)

As an example of how you can do this, follow these steps:

Can you do automatic numbering in Word?

Go to File > Options > Proofing. Select AutoCorrect Options, and then select the AutoFormat As You Type tab. Select or clear Automatic bulleted lists or Automatic numbered lists.

How do you do continuous numbering in Word?

Click Select in the Editing group on the Home tab, and then click Select All. Or press CTRL+A. Do one of the following: To number consecutively throughout the document, click Continuous.

What is sequential numbering?

Sequential Numbering is a popular feature on custom-printed forms Sequential Numbering, also known as Consecutive Numbering, refers to the printing of ascending or descending identification numbers so that each printed unit receives its own unique number.

What are sequential digits?

Sequential Digits. An integer has sequential digits if and only if each digit in the number is one more than the previous digit. Return a sorted list of all the integers in the range [low, high] inclusive that have sequential digits. Example 1: Input: low = 100, high = 300 Output: [123,234]

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Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Sequentially Numbering Elements in Your Document.

Word allows you to automatically number items in your document. For instance, you can automatically number figures, tables, or illustrations. If you later reorder these items, Word automatically updates the numbers so they are in order. To sequentially number items in your text, follow these steps:

1. Position the insertion point where you want the sequential number to appear. For instance, this would be in the caption for the table or figure.
2. Press Ctrl+F9 to insert field brackets. Make sure the insertion point stays between the brackets.
3. Type «seq » followed by the name of the element. This name is up to you, but should be the same for each item in this sequence. For instance, you could type «seq figures» or «seq tables» (without the quote marks).
4. Press F9 to update the field information. Word replaces the field with the next number in the sequence you have specified.

Author Bio

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen…

1. What Multi-level Numbering Looks Like

Often used in the legal profession or in large corporate documents, multilevel numbering creates a logical hierarchy and easy navigation within the document. The headings can also be summarised later on in a table of contents. Here is a simple example:

2. How to Set Up Multilevel Numbering

Here is the correct process:

   I.   To create a custom numbering format, do the following:

   1.   On the Home tab, in the Paragraph group,
choose the Numbering button:

   2.   In the Numbering list, click
Define New Number Format… item to display the Define New Number Format dialog
box:

   3.   In the Define New Number Format dialog box:

• Number style — Specifies the numbering style that you want. Choices include Arabic numerals,
  uppercase and lowercase Roman numerals, uppercase and lowercase alphabet letters, and word series
  (1st, One, and First). You can also choose no numbers at all, killing the sequential numbering.
• Font… — Specifies the special font or font attributes (such as bold, italic, and underline)
  and the point size for the numbers. A standard Font dialog box appears when this button is chosen.
• Number format — Types the characters, if any that you want to come before each number. If you
  want each number enclosed in parentheses, for example, type an opening parenthesis before the number
  in this box.
  Do not type over this number in this box! If you do so, even replacing it with another
  number, you will break the automatic numbering; each number in the list will be the same.
• Alignment — Sets the distance from the left, centered or right margin that Word places the
  number.

   II.   To create a custom multilevel list format, following:

On the Home tab, in the Paragraph group, choose the Multilevel List button and
click Define New Multilevel List… item to display the Define new Multilevel List dialog
box:

If the button in the lower-left corner is the More >> button, click it. Word displays an
extra panel at the right of the dialog box, so you see the full dialog box, as shown here. Word also
changes the More >> button to a << Less button that you can click to hide the
extra section of the dialog box again.

• In the Click Level To Modify, select the list level you want to change. Word selects the
  first level, 1, when you open the Define New Multilevel List dialog box.
• If you need to link this numbered list level to a particular style, select the style in the Link
  Level To Style drop-down list.
• Use the controls in the Number Format area to specify the number format.
  • In the Number Style For This Level drop-down list, select the number format you want
    to use. For example:
    • «1, 2, 3,»
    • «i, ii, iii,»
    • «A, B, C.»
  • To include the number from the previous level (or a higher level), choose the level from the
    Include Level Number From drop-down list. (This drop-down list is unavailable for the
    first level because there’s no level above it.) For example: if Level 1 uses «1, 2, 3»
    numbering and Level 2 uses «a, b, c» numbering, applying Level 1 in the Include Level
    Number From drop-down list to Level 2 changes the Level 2 numbering to 1a, 1b, and
    so on.
  • Word displays the number formatting you’ve chosen in the Enter Formatting For Number
    text box. Type any changes for the text of the format into this text box. For example, you
    might edit the «A)» format to «Section A)» so that each instance of the number included the
    word «Section.»
  • To specify font formatting, click the Font button. Word displays the Font
    dialog box. Choose the font, font style, size, and any extras (such as color or effects),
    and then click the OK button.
  • To customize the numbering, use the Start At spinner to change the starting number.
    If you want to restart numbering after a certain level, select the Restart List After
    check box and choose that level in the drop-down list. (The Restart List After
    controls aren’t available for the first level in the list, because there’s no higher level.)
  • Select the Legal Style Numbering check box if you want to use legal-style numbering:
    changing any roman numeral to an Arabic numeral. For example, 1.1.1 instead of
    I.1.1.
• Use the controls in the Position box to customize where the number appears.
  • In the Number Alignment drop-down list, choose Left, Centered, or
    Right.
  • In the Aligned At text box, choose the position at which to align the number.
  • In the Text Indent At text box, set the indent position for the text.
  • In the Follow Number With drop-down list, select the character to include after the
    number: a tab, a space, or nothing. If you choose a tab, you can select the Add Tab Stop
    At check box and set the distance at which to place a tab stop.

Note: more details are available
in the Numbered lists section
in the Work with bulleted, numbered and multi-level lists lesson
of the Create basic documents free course.

See also this tip in French:
Comment personnaliser une liste numérotée.

Scenario:

• You have a Word document that uses outline numbering for each chapter/section heading (e.g. 1.1, 1.2, 2.4.3 etc.).
• You have table and figure captions in this document that are numbered in two long sequences — one for tables, one for figures (e.g. Table 1 through 53; Figure 1 through 26).
• You want to convert the caption number sequences from a single number sequence to a separate sequence in each chapter/section (e.g. Table 3.2 for the second table in chapter 3).
• You want to do this because your document is long and readers can’t easily find the tables/figures they want as numbers like Table 34 are meaningless unless you find the table captions before/after ‘Table 34’. By changing the numbering sequence to include the chapter numbers, your readers will have guideposts to aid their search — if they are in Section 5, they will know that Table 3.2 is back in Section 3 and is the second table in that section.
• Ultimately, you want to help your readers find the information they want as quickly as possible.

Prerequisites:

This set of steps ONLY works if you use automated outline numbering for your heading styles. This post does not describe how to set that up (instead see the links in this post: https://cybertext.wordpress.com/2008/09/23/word-2007-outline-numbering/).

***************

There are three main steps in this procedure — updating the table and figure caption numbering, then updating any cross-references that refer to these tables (including any List of Tables of List of Figures you’ve inserted).

Step 1: Update the caption numbering for tables

1. Place your cursor in front of ANY automated caption number for ANY table.
   
2. Go to the References tab and click Insert Caption to open the Caption dialog box.
   
3. Change the Label to Table.
4. Click Numbering to open the Caption Numbering dialog box.
   
5. Select the Include Chapter Numbering check box.
6. Optional: Change the Separator. It’s unlikely you’ll need to change the Format or the Style, so leave those as they are.
   
7. Click OK to close the Caption Numbering dialog box. Doing this automatically updates ALL table caption numbers in the document.
   
8. Click Close to close the Caption dialog box.

Step 2: Update the caption numbering for figures

1. Place your cursor in front of ANY automated caption number for ANY figure.
   
2. Go to the References tab and click Insert Caption to open the Caption dialog box.
3. Change the Label to Figure.
4. Click Numbering to open the Caption Numbering dialog box.
   
5. Select the Include Chapter Numbering check box.
6. Optional: Change the Separator. It’s unlikely you’ll need to change the Format or the Style, so leave those as they are.
   
7. Click OK to close the Caption Numbering dialog box. Doing this automatically updates ALL figure caption numbers in the document.
   
8. Click Close to close the Caption dialog box.

Step 3: Update all the cross-references to the figures and tables throughout the document

1. Press Ctrl+A to select the entire document.
2. Right-click and select Update Field.
3. If you’re asked about updating the Table of Contents, select Update entire table, then click OK.
   
4. If you’re asked about updating the Table of Figures, select Update entire table, then click OK. You might be asked about this twice if you have both a list of tables and a list of figures.

When finished, all your cross-references should now reflect the new numbering sequences. NOTE: Sometimes you have to repeat these steps and update a second time to get them to all update correctly.

See also:

• https://cybertext.wordpress.com/2014/01/31/word-updating-automated-caption-and-cross-reference-numbering/

[Links last checked March 2014]