Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 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: Turning Off Line Numbering.

Turning Off Line Numbering

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 7, 2019)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

In other issues of WordTips, you learned how to turn on the line numbering feature. (It is great for legal or research-oriented documents.) There may be times, however, when you want to exclude a certain paragraph from line numbering. In order to do this, follow these steps:

Position the insertion point in the paragraph that you don't want to have line numbers.
Display the Home tab of the ribbon.
Click the small icon at the lower-right corner of the Paragraph group. Word displays the Paragraph dialog box.
Make sure the Line and Page Breaks tab is selected. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Line and Page Breaks tab of the Paragraph dialog box.

Select the Suppress Line Numbers check box.
Click on OK.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (8839) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Turning Off Line Numbering.

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...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Moving Found Text Down On a Page

When you use the Search feature to find information, if the information is not on the visible page, then Word displays ...

Discover More

Increasing the AutoFilter Drop-Down Limit

When you turn on AutoFiltering, Excel displays a drop-down list at the top of each column in your data table. This list ...

Discover More

Quickly Increasing Point Size

Want to adjust the size of a text selection? Here's a quick shortcut to increase the size.

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 365 applications with VBA programming. Written in clear terms and understandable language, the book includes systematic tutorials and contains both intermediate and advanced content for experienced VB developers. Designed to be comprehensive, the book addresses not just one Office application, but the entire Office suite. Check out Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 365 today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Line Numbering and Tables

Some types of documents (such as legal documents) may require that individual lines of text be numbered. If you use ...

Discover More

Setting the Starting Line Number

Line numbers are an important part of some documents, such as those prepared in the legal profession. If you want to ...

Discover More

Removing Line Numbering

If you've added line numbers to your document, at some point you may want them turned off. Here's how to disable line ...

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is three more than 1?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

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.