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Numbered lists going back to the margin.

Anonymous
2017-09-14T18:17:35+00:00

I have Windows 10 and am using Word 2016.

I am trying to format a document using styles and my numbered lists keep on showing up incorrectly.

I have a style set for a list and it's supposed to look like this:

       1.  This is just text I am using to fill up some space and as you can see this is the first line.

            This is the second line and as you can see it is directly under the where the first letter in the first line starts.

Instead it looks like this:

       1.  This is just text I am using to fill up some space and as you can see this is the first line.

This is the second line and as you can see it went back to the margin.

This is the third line and every line after the first sits back at the margin.

How can I make my lists not go back to the margin after the first line?

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  1. Stefan Blom 338.6K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2017-09-17T15:11:00+00:00

    Could you elaborate on what you are trying to accomplish?

    My assumption, based on your example, was that you wanted something like this:

    Such a numbered list could be accomplished by setting "Aligned at" to zero and "Add tab stop at" = "Text indent at" = 0.63 points (that is, 1/4 inch).

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  2. Stefan Blom 338.6K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2017-09-15T23:41:39+00:00

    Click in the first paragraph of your list. Click Home | Multilevel List | Define New Multilevel List. In the multilevel list dialog box, set up a hanging indent as follows (see screen shot below):

    "Aligned at" determines the position of the number. "Text indent at" determines where the second and subsequent etxt lines start. "Add tab stop at" determines where the text on the first line (following the number) starts.

    Al measurements are from the left margin. In other words, for a hanging indent, you have to set "Text indent at" equal to "Add tab stop at" (and both of these values should be larger than "Aligned at" of course).

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-09-17T03:52:33+00:00

    Thank you! That was a great response. Unfortunately I tried exactly what you said and it still didn't work. I played with it for almost 2 hours now and it's still not working :(. any other ideas?

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-09-15T23:02:00+00:00

    Did you notice any app setting changes prior to the issue?

    I did not notice anything has changed. To put the issue in perspective I am publishing an eBook to Amazon that requires styles formatting. In the document the lists are laid out correctly but after uploading they show up incorrectly. The formatting mistake is happening after conversion. The thing is that I know there is a setting in Word that can lock the indent for all of the lines in a numbered list so that they won't move during conversion I'm just trying to find it. That's why I just asked if you guys knew of the setting because that's all I need. 

    Is the issue isolated to a single document?

    No the formatting mistake happens in every document. I am working with Amazon too but I know that there is a setting in word I can set for the lists to be forced to be formatted correctly. I'm just trying to find the setting to force it.

    Are you getting any error messages?

    No error messages

    What troubleshooting steps have you done so far?

    It would be easier to just ask if I can make a way for word to force the text indent on a numbered list than to list all of the stuff I have done. I have grown grey hairs trying to fix this.

    I have noticed that when I go to paste > keep text only that the formatting turns into how it looks during conversion in Amazon. It's as if during conversion their settings make it keep text only. I am not sure if that helps or not but I am stuck and have tried everything.

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  5. Anonymous
    2017-09-14T23:14:21+00:00

    Hello Imanuel,

    The challenge you're experiencing with Numbering on Word 2016 might be due to the document layout misconfiguration. We would like to ask a few questions to know more about your concern. Please clarify the following:

    • Did you notice any app setting changes prior to the issue?
    • Is the issue isolated to a single document?
    • Are you getting any error messages?
    • What troubleshooting steps have you done so far?
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