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: Removing Line Numbering.

Removing Line Numbering

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 6, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

Once you have turned on line numbering, you may later want to remove the line numbers added by Word. For instance, during development of a document you might want to have line numbers, and then you want them removed for the final document. To disable line numbering completely, follow these steps:

Display the Layout tab of the ribbon (Page Layout on older versions of Word).
Click the Line Numbers tool (in the Page Setup group) and then choose Line Numbering Options. Word displays the Layout tab of the Page Setup dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Layout tab of the Page Setup dialog box.

Click on the Line Numbers button. Word displays the Line Numbers dialog box. (See Figure 2.)

Figure 2. The Line Numbers dialog box.

Disable line numbers by clearing the Add Line Numbering check box.
Click on OK to close the Line Numbers dialog box.
Click on OK to close the Page Setup 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 (9630) 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: Removing 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

Changing the Bullet Type

When you apply bullet formatting to paragraphs, Word allows you to choose from a variety of different bullets. If you ...

Discover More

Progression Indicator in a Macro

When your macro is humming along, minding its own business, a user watching the screen may not see any activity and ...

Discover More

Making Ribbon Customizations Apply to All Workbooks

Excel allows you to easily make changes to the ribbon, as well as to the Quick Access Toolbar, which is near the ribbon. ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! An easy-to-understand guide to the more advanced features available in the Microsoft 365 version of Word. Enhance the quality of your documents and boost productivity in any field with this in-depth resource. Complete your Word-related tasks more efficiently as you unlock lesser-known tools and learn to quickly access the features you need. Check out Microsoft 365 Word For Professionals For Dummies today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Positioning Line Numbers

Line numbers can be added to a document, and is typically done in legal documents. The line numbers appear to the left of ...

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

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

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 six 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.