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

Changing Caption Numbering Styles

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 4, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021

If you use the captioning feature of Word, you can automatically number all your captions. For instance, all your tables and figures could be numbered using consecutive numbers. In addition, Word allows you to specify how you want the numbers to appear in the caption. To change numbering styles for your captions, follow these steps:

Display the References tab of the ribbon.
Click the Insert Caption tool, in the Captions group. Word displays the Caption dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Caption dialog box.

Click on the Numbering button. Word displays the Caption Numbering dialog box. (See Figure 2.)

Figure 2. The Caption Numbering dialog box.

Using the Format drop-down list, choose the format you want used for your caption numbers.
Click on OK to close the Caption Numbering dialog box.
Click on OK to insert your caption.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (13312) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Changing Caption Numbering Styles.

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...

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