Getting Rid of Manual Paragraph Numbering

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 31, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365


1

Sharon is editing some old documents that have "hand numbered" paragraphs. If she adds automatic numbering to those paragraphs, Word still leaves the "hand numbering" numbers in place. She has many documents to process, and some of them are quite long. She wonders if there is a way to automatically get rid of the "hand numbering" numbers.

There are three ways you can approach this task. One is by editing, another is to use Find and Replace, and the third is to use a macro.

You can use regular editing techniques if your paragraphs are very short, meaning not over a single line each. All you need to do is to hold down the Alt key as you use the mouse to select the leading numbers and anything after them (like periods, spaces, or tabs). Press the Delete key, and just those leading characters are deleted.

For the Find and Replace method, follow these steps:

  1. Press Ctrl+H to display the Replace tab of the Find and Replace dialog box.
  2. Click the More button, if it is visible.
  3. Make sure the Use Wildcards check box is selected.
  4. In the Find What box, enter "(^13)[0-9]{1,}.[^09^32]" (without the quote marks).
  5. In the Replace With box, enter " \1" (again, without the quote marks). (See Figure 1.)
  6. Figure 1. Getting ready to replace numbering.

  7. Click on Replace All.
  8. Close the Find and Replace dialog box.

There are a few things to note about this technique. First, it replaces any leading paragraph numbering that starts with an Arabic number (1, 2, 3, etc.) followed by a period and either a tab or space. If your "hand numbered" paragraphs don't follow this pattern, then you'll need to modify what you search for in step 4. For instance, if the numbering uses Roman numerals or letters then you'll need to change what you search for.

Second, the technique assumes that there are no leading spaces or tabs before the number at the beginning of the paragraph. If there might be, then you'll need to do a separate Find and Replace operation before this one in order to remove all leading spaces or tabs.

If you prefer to use a macro to do the conversion, the easiest way is to use an old WordBasic command that was never updated to VBA. Consider the following:

Sub RemoveManualNumbers()
    ActiveDocument.Range.Select
    WordBasic.ToolsBulletsNumbers Replace:=0, Type:=1, Remove:=1
End Sub

The macro selects the entire document and then uses the .ToolsBulletsNumbers method to get rid of the manual numbering. You can find out a bit more about this approach at the following Word MVP site page:

https://wordmvp.com/FAQs/Numbering/RemoveManualNumbers.htm

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the WordTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (9895) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365.

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. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Limiting Spell Checking

Spell check a document, and Word normally checks several different dictionaries. Here's how to limit the dictionary ...

Discover More

Automatically Selecting Words

When editing a document, Word normally selects entire words as you use the mouse to select text. This tip explains why ...

Discover More

Changing the User Interface Language

Tired of Windows showing you information in English when you'd much prefer a different language? Here's how to modify the ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 2013 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access) with VBA programming, using it for writing macros, automating Office applications, and creating custom applications. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2013 today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Jumping to a Relative Page

When you are navigating around your document, you may find it helpful to jump a certain number of pages either toward the ...

Discover More

Deleting Freezes Computer

Sometimes a strange object or text may appear in your document, as happened to Sharon. To complicate the situation, her ...

Discover More

Deleting a Range of Pages

Need to delete a range of pages out of the middle of your document? It's easy to do using editing techniques you already ...

Discover More
Subscribe

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.

What is 7 - 7?

2023-01-03 01:49:08

Tomek

For the first approach for longer paragraphs (more than single line) you can format them with hanging indent in such a way that all paragraph numbers are sticking out to the left of the rest of the text. Then use Alt+drag-mouse trick. Unluckily this trick does not allow for multiple or non-contiguous selections to be made (Ctrl+Alt+drag mouse does nor work).


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.

Videos
Subscribe

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

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.