WD: Heading 1 Style Starts with "2" When Numbered

ID: Q110380

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 6.0, 6.0a, 6.0c
Microsoft Word for Windows 95, versions 7.0, 7.0a
Microsoft Word 98 Macintosh Edition
Microsoft Word for the Macintosh, version 6.0, 6.0.1, 6.0.1a
Microsoft Word for Windows NT, version 6.0

SYMPTOMS

When you use Outline Numbered (Heading Numbering) in Microsoft Word, if any heading style (Heading 1 through 9) appears in the text before a Heading 1 paragraph, then the Heading 1 paragraph will be numbered "2" when you apply Outline Numbered (Heading Numbering).

CAUSE

This behavior is by design in the Word versions listed at the beginning of this article and is different from behavior seen in earlier versions of Word. In earlier versions, heading numbering did not increment the numbering for the Heading 1 style based on the existence of a lower style (Heading 2, for instance) preceding Heading 1 in the document. The result in earlier versions of Word is that the first Heading 1 paragraph would be numbered "1."

In Word, the first Heading 1 paragraph when preceded by a lower style starts with "2" because of the existence of another heading paragraph earlier, not because of how many earlier heading paragraphs there are. For example, if you have five paragraphs formatted with the following heading styles:

   Heading 2
   Heading 2
   Heading 2
   Heading 2
   Heading 1

the result after numbering is that the Heading 1 paragraph is numbered as "2," not "5."

WORKAROUND

This behavior may cause a problem in Word when you use chapter-page numbering in your document. Heading 1 is usually used to mark the start of a chapter, so whenever another heading style appears before the first Heading 1 paragraph, Word numbers the first chapter number as "2." To work around this problem, use either of the following methods.

Method 1

Rearrange your document so the Heading 1 paragraph is the first heading-level paragraph in your document. If this is not possible, use Method 2 instead.

Method 2

1. Position the insertion point at the beginning of the Heading 1

   paragraph.

2. On the Insert menu, click Break. Select the Continuous option, and

   then click OK.

3. Use the method appropriate for your version of Word.

   Word 98 Macintosh Edition:

      a. On the Format menu, click Bullets And Numbering.

      b. In the Bullets And Numbering dialog box, select the Outline
         Numbered tab.

      c. Under "List numbering", click Restart Numbering, and then click
         OK.

   Word 6.x/7.x:

      a. On the Format menu, click Heading Numbering. Click Modify.

      b. In the Modify Heading Numbering dialog box, select the "Restart
         Numbering at Each New Section" option.

      c. Click OK.

NOTE: This workaround may be inappropriate for multiple-section documents that depend on continuous numbering.

Additional query words:

Keywords          : kbualink97 kbdta wordnt winword kbnumbering ntword macword word6 word7 word95 kbformat kbfaq
Version           : WINDOWS:6.0,6.0a,6.0c,7.0,7.0a;MACINTOSH:6.0,6.0.1,6.0.1a,98
Platform          : MACINTOSH WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbprb

Last Reviewed: December 13, 1998