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: Converting Automatic Numbering to Manual Numbering.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 16, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021
Steve notes that Word's auto-numbering is not suitable for documents that are to be imported into page layout programs such as Adobe InDesign. He wonders if there is a quick way to replace auto-numbering with manual numbering, in the same way that you can convert field text to plain text.
The answer is yes, there is a quick way. Simply follow these steps:
ActiveDocument.Range.ListFormat.ConvertNumbersToText
That's it; all the auto-numbered lists in your document are changed to manual numbering. If, instead, you want to affect only a limited portion of the document, make sure that portion is selected before you start the steps and then use this command in step 4:
Selection.Range.ListFormat.ConvertNumbersToText
For those familiar with macros, the difference here is that you are working with the Selection object (the text you have selected) instead of the ActiveDocument object (the entire document).
There are a couple of gotchas related to this approach, however. First, it may appear that your numbered lists no longer line up properly. This is because any custom tab stops set for the lists are deleted and Word reverts to using the default tab stops. This shouldn't be a huge problem, as you are doing this conversion in preparation for importing the document to a page layout program. (The tab stops in that program should take precedence over any you have set in Word.)
The second gotcha is that if you applied the auto-numbered styles using lists, then the numbering isn't really gone. You can apply it again by simply selecting the paragraphs in the lists and pressing Ctrl+Q.
If you would rather not mess with the VBA Editor, then there is another approach you can try out—save your document in RTF format. Many page layout programs (such as InDesign) use a different filter for importing RTF files, with the result that the numbered lists are converted automatically to regular numbers.
Note:
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (10248) 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: Converting Automatic Numbering to Manual Numbering.
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 2019. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2019 For Dummies today!
Adding numbered lists to your document is a snap; Word provides tools to add them immediately. What Word doesn't do is ...
Discover MoreIf you have a couple of numbered lists separated by regular text paragraphs, you might want the secondary lists to be ...
Discover MoreWhen creating numbered lists, the normal characters that follow the number are a period and a tab. Here's how to force ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
2024-07-14 21:41:03
Nic
This worked perfectly - thank you!!
2024-03-07 21:01:26
Pham Nhu Luc
Thanks for your help
2024-01-08 22:12:35
Mrs Loh
Thank you so much. You have saved me so much time.
2023-10-27 13:16:16
Jeff
Hi, thanks for the good info. Only problem I have now is that running ConvertNumbersToText also removes the bold emphasis of the text on the numbered lines. Any way you know of to preserve the font attributes?
2023-07-27 11:44:10
Tracey Russo
Thank you thank you thank you thank you!!!!
2023-04-27 09:16:13
Sanjay
Thanks Allen. That was great. It worked perfect in the first shot.
However, after applying this solution, some part of the pdf document is now not searchable.
It will be highly appreciated if you can suggest some solution.
Thanks in advance.
SJ
2022-10-02 05:02:48
Gagan
Thank you so much, I am using Mac OS, so the Command + G wasn't working or any of these combinations such as Command+Shift+G or Control+Shift+G or Control+G.
However, as someone mentioned in the comments, I used an easier trick,
Step 1: Cut the list
Step 2: Paste Special
Step 3: Unformatted text.
That's all. However, this could mess up the even distribution of the text in the list. If someone finds the Control+G shortcut Mac alternative, then please help :) Thanks to the OP.
2022-08-25 15:16:53
emviem
Thank you!
2022-01-12 10:57:10
Valdimar Helgason
Thanks for this perfect solution to my question on how to convert bullets Automatic Numbering to Manual Numbering
Only thing I forgot at first but was my bad was not selecting the automatic numering list fyrst
The answer is yes, there is a quick way. Simply follow these steps:
Open the document whose numbering you want to convert. (You may want to open a copy of the document so that you don't mess up the original document.)
Press Alt+F11. Word displays the VBA Editor.
Press Ctrl+G. This opens the Immediate window. (If you get any other type of dialog box, such as the Find and Replace dialog box, then you aren't working in the VBA Editor; you are still in Word. Close the dialog box, make sure the VBA Editor is active, and then repeat this step.)
Type the following in the Immediate window:
ActiveDocument.Range.ListFormat.ConvertNumbersToText
Press Enter.
2021-08-16 09:46:37
Tammy
Thanks, saved me so much time!
2021-08-12 07:18:37
Hanna
Thank you!
2021-04-30 14:33:45
jane
Wow! this is cool. How would I change the formula if I wanted to change my list of automated lettered list to normal letters?
2021-04-27 20:37:49
agnieszka
Exactly what i needed, thank you! Pleased to say this retains all formatting, all images, all equations added through the equations editor. Now i can remove every even-numbered question and this retains the correct question number for the remaining content. :-)
You have saved me a lot of time re-formatting this document :-)
2021-03-18 05:50:07
Ken Endacott
Sally,
Insert tab > Quick Parts > Field. Scroll down to the ListNum field and under Field properties you will see all the lists in the document.
Another way is to use a macro. The following macro will give the number of lists in the document. The macro could be expanded to give the type of numbering and highlight the paragraphs belong to each list.
Sub ListCount()
MsgBox Str(ActiveDocument.Lists.Count) & " numbering lists in document"
End Sub
2021-03-17 06:09:10
Sally
Thanks for this. Is there any way to determine whether a Word document contains any automatic numbering?
2021-03-09 23:54:57
Wilson Atamain
Gracias genio... realmente me ayudaron los códigos que proporciona, me sirvió para convertir listas numeradas a texto.
2021-03-05 11:00:30
Clinton Newton
Another work around, Select, right click, Cut. Paste special as text. Voila!
2021-02-12 09:25:01
KAMRAN
What could I say to thank you and appreciate the effort you put in for novice Word users like me. Just THANKS!
2021-01-10 06:04:10
Ankit Sharma
You are the academy of MS-Word learning.
Thank you so much.
2020-12-23 11:14:56
Sam
Thank you so much.
2020-08-24 16:29:26
Ray
Wow!!! I've searched this from time to time for years and never found the answer. This worked beautifully and took only seconds to complete. Thanks very much.
2020-08-24 04:03:50
Mikka
This is brilliant, thanks a lot! This will save me a lot of trouble. I did however notice that the automatic numbering in a text box is not converted along with the rest. Is there a way to alter the code so that it will also convert the automatic numbering in the text boxes? Thanks in advance!
2020-07-22 16:37:48
Sam B
You just saved me a massive amount of time. Great tip!
2020-06-09 09:09:37
Simon Snell
Thanks for this - I'm using it to paste from Word into Sharepoint and it is very helpful - otherwise all the numbering changes.
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.
Visit the WordTips channel on YouTube
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
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:
Comments