How to create a list with restarting and continuing numbering

Word 2016 2013 2010 2007 2003
You can tell Word to start from any number you prefer, restart numbering from 1, or continue numbering.

Start numbering from the specified number

To start the list numbering from the number you need, do the following:

   1.   Double-click the numbers in the list (the text will not appear selected):

Paragraph in Word 365

   2.   Do one of the following:

  • Right-click the selected number and choose Set Numbering Value... in the popup menu:
    Set Numbering Value in the popup menu Word 365
  • On the Home tab, in the Paragraph group, click Numbering or from the popup menu (for more details see Creating numbered lists) and then choose Set Numbering Value...:
    Set Numbering Value in Word 365

   3.   In the Set Numbering Value dialog box, on the Set value to text box, type or choose the appropriate value:

Set Numbering Value dialog box in Word 365

For example, start from number 7 for the third item of the list:

The third item of the list in Word 365

Note: Be careful, the numbering value is set for the item, not for its position in the list:

The third item of the list 2 in Word 365

Restart numbering from 1

This option is often used to place two numbered lists one after the other. Word will try to continue the second list with the next number in sequence from the previous list; this option tells it not to.

To restart the numbering in a numbered list, do the following:

   1.   Double-click the numbers in the list (the text will not appear selected):

Two lists in Word 365

   2.   Do one of the following:

  • Right-click the selected number and choose Restart at 1 in the popup menu:
    Restart at 1 in the popup menu Word 365
  • On the Home tab, in the Paragraph group, click Numbering or from the popup menu (for more details see Creating numbered lists) and then choose Set Numbering Value....

    In the Set Numbering Value dialog box, on the Set value to text box, type or choose the value 1 :

    Set Numbering Value at 1 in Word 365

Continue numbering for the numbering list

After an operation of copying, moving, etc. list items or information between them, Word can lose the numbering. Thus, you may need to continue the list numbering.

To continue list numbering, right-click the number for which you need to continue numbering and choose the Continue Numbering option in the popup menu:

Continue Numbering in the popup menu Word 365

Note: When Word loses the numbering for a list, it “understands” the lost part of the list as a second list with its own formatting, usually starting from 1. You can copy and paste the formatting of the first list into the second to continue numbering. See how to copy paragraph or numbering format.

Note: More details are available in the Numbered lists section in the Work with bulleted, numbered and multi-level lists lesson of the Create basic documents free course.

See also this tip in French: Comment créer une liste en redémarrant et en continuant la numérotation.

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