Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021. 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: Deleting Caption Labels.

Deleting Caption Labels

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 1, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021

The captioning feature of Word allows you to define custom labels for use in your captions. After a time, you may not need a particular caption label anymore. To remove a caption label, follow these steps:

Display the References tab of the ribbon.
Click the Insert Caption tool, in the Captions group. Word displays the Caption dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Caption dialog box.

Using the Label drop-down list, choose the caption label you want to delete.
Click on Delete Label. The label is immediately deleted. (If the Delete Label button is not available, you didn't choose a custom caption label in step 3.)
Click on Cancel to dismiss the Caption dialog box.

Remember: These steps are used to delete a caption label, not an actual caption. The Delete Label button (in the Caption dialog box) will only be available for deleting a custom caption label—one you previously added using the New Label button. You cannot delete the built-in caption labels hardwired into Word.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (8719) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Deleting Caption Labels.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

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...

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