Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Adding Caption Labels.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated March 12, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365
If you use the captioning feature of Word, you can easily insert consistent, automatically numbered captions for different elements in your documents. For instance, you can insert captions for tables and figures.
Word allows you to define different labels that are used with your captions. In the caption "Figure 7," the word "Figure" is the label portion of the caption. By default, Word provides three standard caption labels: Figure, Table, and Equation. If you want, you can define different labels for use with your captions. To define labels, follow these steps:
Figure 1. The Caption dialog box.
Figure 2. The New Label dialog box.
Now you can use the newly defined label whenever you want to add captions in the future. Simply follow the steps to insert a caption as you normally would but choose the caption you just defined.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (13301) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Adding Caption Labels.
The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2013. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2013 For Dummies today!
Need to add a caption after a document element such as a figure or table? You can add and format one manually, or you can ...
Discover MoreUsing Word's captioning feature can be a great boon for automatically numbering certain elements in your documents. It ...
Discover MoreWhen you add captions to elements in your document, Word allows you to modify how those captions are formatted. Here's ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
2022-03-12 20:41:18
steve Leach
I've been using Word and Excel for years with Links from Excel -> Word with no problem. I just bought a new laptop with the latest version of both programs, Office 365 and One Drive. Now links won't stick between saving, closing and reopening. I think the problem is a OneDrive issue, but its a really big problem and I'm at a loss for a viable solution.
Thank you
Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.
Visit the WordTips channel on YouTube
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Comments