2 Ways to Automatically Number Rows or Columns in Your Word Table

For large tables in Word, it would be more convenient if we can auto number their rows or columns. Follow this article to learn how.

Many of us may know how to use the AutoNumber feature in Excel worksheets. In fact, this feature can also be applied to Word tables. For complex documents that may contain large tables, you may want Word to number the rows automatically to save time. Besides, if you have inserted auto-number to the rows or columns of a table, then you will never need to adjust numbers when you insert or remove rows or columns from your table anymore, because Word will update them automatically. In this article, we will mainly introduce how to do so.

Method 1: Create a Normal Auto-numbered List

For better understanding, I will show you how to insert an auto-numbered list in the first left column of the table like this:

1. Select the column of your table where you want to insert a numbered list.
2. Go to “Home” tab, and then click “Numbering” drop down list.
3. Select a numbered list from “Numbering Library”.

Method 2: Apply Customized Number Format

In Word, you can also change the style and format of the numbered lists. For example, sometimes you may need to restart the sequence, or specify a new start number like this:

To do so, you can follow these steps:

1. Select the column of your table where you want to insert a numbered list with other formatting.
2. Switch to “Home” tab, and click “Numbering” drop down list. And then select “Define New Number Format”
3. In the subsequent dialog box, enter your customized number format under “Number Format” box.
4. Select the style of numbers from “Number Style” drop-down list. And then click “OK” to save it.
5. In this way, we will be able to define new number format of our own. And if we delete or add an item into the table, the numbered list will update accordingly.

Take Assistance of a Specialized Repair Tool

All in all, we can quickly add row or column numbers to a large Word table automatically. And also, Word provides many other features to bring common users convenience. However, Word sometimes can be affected by malware intrusion or virus attacks. Thus, it is essential to keep a stellar repair tool nearby to recover word. This tool is capable of examining Word files and restoring them to their prior condition in a jiffy.

Author Introduction

Kelly Zhao is a data recovery expert in DataNumen, Inc., which is the world leader in data recovery technologies, including excel recovery and pdf repair software products. For more information visit www.datanumen.com