Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, and 2013. 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: Lining Up Numbered List Numbers.
You already know how to create a numbered list using the built-in tools provided by Word. If you create a numbered list that has more than nine items in it, you may notice that your numbers for each item do not line up properly. For instance, the numbers are not lined up on the decimal point as you might expect. This condition is easy enough to fix; follow these steps:
Figure 1. The Define New Number Format dialog box.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (6003) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, and 2013. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Lining Up Numbered List Numbers.
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2019-04-04 18:12:38
Donna
When I clicked on right in the "define new number format" box, all my numbers moved so far left, they went out of the column! ???
2018-04-10 22:19:19
When I did this for a second numbered list in my document, it continued the numbering from the previous list. When I chose to 'Restart at 1' then it put all the numbers back to left align. Is there a way to keep it right aligned?
2016-07-15 16:05:31
Mary Jo Koranda
It worked perfectly on one section. When I tried it on another section, the option "define new number format" is greyed out. I tried closing the document and reopening to correct the second section but it still was grayed out.
2016-07-10 03:34:26
mindy
Brilliant thanks!
2016-05-23 07:08:00
Steve
I was getting frustrated with this, thank you for the answer, it was so easy in the end!
2016-03-29 13:20:32
Beverly
Thank you!
This was wonderful and so easy and clear to understand!
2016-01-22 19:57:38
Douglas Mossman
Thank you. This was clear and very helpful.
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Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, and 2013. 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: 
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