
The workaround is to use numbered lists instead. There’s no direct option for paragraph numbering in Word that works similarly to the line numbering feature. It’s common to find draft documents with paragraphs numbered so that people can refer to each by that number (“We mention government oversight in paragraphs 6, 7, 9 and 12”).

Since there’s line numbering in Word, you’d expect to also find a paragraph numbering option. These samples are usually formatted with a special style (fixed space font, indent and a special color) to which automatic line numbering would be very useful. That’s a curious omission since Microsoft developers themselves should be aware of one common use for line numbering – in samples of computer code. However styles can’t enable the line numbering in the first place. You can use a style to suppress line numbering at Format Paragraph | Line and Page Breaks | Formatting Exceptions | Suppress Line Numbers. You have to choose ‘All Styles’ to see the Line Number style and modify it.Ĭuriously, line numbering itself isn’t a formatting option in Paragraph styles. It doesn’t show up in the ‘In use’ or ‘In current document’ style lists even when it’s being used in the document. Line Number is one of those annoying hidden Word styles.
