Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 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: 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 Word in Microsoft 365

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 Word in Microsoft 365. 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

Counting Month Ends

When working with dates in a worksheet, you may need to do some rather esoteric calculations on those dates. This tip ...

Discover More

Changing the User Name in Existing Comments

Want to change the name that Word associates with various comments previously added to your document? Here are some ideas ...

Discover More

Printing a Bookmark List with Contents

Bookmarks can be a great tool in Word, allowing you to easily remember the location of desired blocks of text. If you ...

Discover More

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!

More WordTips (ribbon)

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

Correct Line Numbers when Printing Selections

Line numbers can be indispensable on some types of documents. When you print a portion of a document (a selection) Word ...

Discover More

Numbering Only Certain Lines

Need to add line numbers to a document? Word provides an easy way to add them, but some of the controls that configure ...

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 8 - 5?

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.