How to modify a list style? Missing from right-click menu!

Question

I want to modify the list style I have setup for my headings. However, when I go to the multilevel list dropdown menu and right-click on the list style I do not get a modify option! See image below. I tried right-clicking on the Heading list both under the List Library and under the Lists in Current Documents, neither produce a modify option. Unless I am misremembering, this is how I always used to modify list styles.

How can I modify an existing list style? Thank you!

Answer 1

You are correct, there is no modify command. The only way I know to do this is to be in a level one paragraph and use the Define New MultiLevel List dialog. It will start with the current list and let you make modifications. (The single-level list dropdown does have a Modify command, but does not work on a multilevel list and even fyor a single-level list may be that dialog to use because it has so many more formatting controls.)

If you use automatic paragraph numbering or bullets read Shauna Kelly's directions on numbering and bullets. Start with How to create numbered headings or outline numbering in Word 2007 and Word 2010. For large documents you must follow these directions or you will lose your hair!
(Mac version: https://www.brandwares.com/bestpractices/2016/06/outline-numbering-in-word-for-os-x/). For styles attached this way, you also control the left indents through the Define New MultiLevel List dialog not the Ruler or the Modify Style dialog.

This may seem a bit convoluted at first, but it really is not. Just follow the steps. Shauna Kelly's instructions use the built-in heading styles, but you can use any existing paragraph styles including your custom styles. There are, however advantages to using the built-in heading styles when you create a Table of Contents. Here are some more advantages: Why Use Word's Built-In Heading Styles? by Shauna Kelly Note, you can modify these built-in styles to look exactly the way you want.

You want to do this even if what you want is a single-level list if you want the most control over your list.

The basic idea is that the numbering is set using the Define MultiLevel List dialog with each numbering level being attached to an existing paragraph style. Once you have this set up, you should not use the buttons for numbering in the Ribbon but rather apply the appropriate style for that level.

You can save a document with this as a template for future documents if you want so you will not need to do this every time.

Styles in a multilevel list, when properly set up, can be a part of a [Quick] Style Set or applied by a macro using the Organizer method.

• [Quick] Style Sets and Word Themes in Microsoft Word
• [Quick] Style Sets
• A Global StyleSheet in Microsoft Word?

Answer 2

Thank you for your reply! In most documents what you suggest works, and so definitely helps. However, I have one document where the list style somehow got detached from all of the heading styles! Since that list style has no paragraph/text style associated with it, I can not find a way to get in to modify the list style to fix the problem. I am sure I have had this happen before, and almost sure I fixed it by right-clicking on the list style and and selecting an option to modify the style. But that option seems to have vanished?!! But I can't think of any sane reason to remove it?

Shauna Kelly's directions on numbering and bullets are great, they are how I set up the list style in the first place, and I don't know of a better way. My main problem is that, on occasion, the list styles mysteriously end up detached from the heading styles and need fixed. I think this has something to do with Onedrive, simultaneous document editing, and/or web editing; I am not really sure. A secondary problem with Kelly's approach is that some people set up numbered headings/lists using outer approaches which do not appear to be compatible. It is then a mess if they try to modify the list setup on my documents, or I try to modify theirs.

Answer 3

First, anyone editing such a document in the Online or mobile versions of Word has been reported to mess up lists.

Even with the ones that are not set up properly or have become disconnected, try putting your inser9tion point in the top level paragraph and using the Define new multilevel list dialog. Using the More button, attach existing paragraph styles to the list.

Then go through the document, and for anything in the list that does not have the appropriate style, apply the appropriate style.

Automatic numbering has long been problematic when not handled this way. The technical term "spaghetti numbering" was coined more than twenty years ago to describe the problems.

Shauna's page is sort of a Cliff's Notes version of Word Numbering Explained by John McGhie, MVP.

Answer 4

One further note of clarification, true multilevel list styles are not really like other styles in Word. Like Table Styles, they don't go in the Quick Styles Gallery on the Home tab. However, when a list is properly attached to styles as described in Shauna's page, those attached styles can be in the Quick Styles Gallery and can be part of a [Quick] Style Set.

[Quick] Style Sets and Word Themes in Microsoft Word.

When the [Quick] Style Set is applied, the list style seems to come along with it.

That might be a way for you to preserve your lists and reapply them if they get scrambled. It is at least worth a try.

Answer 5

This eventually worked, thank you! I managed to apply the list style to some random text by highlighting some text and clicking on the style from the List Styles section of the multi-level list menu. This isn't how list styles should be applied, I know I should just apply them to styles and then use the style gallery to format my text. But it did let me get in and edit the list style. Once was in to edit it I was able to re-apply the list style to the headings and fix everything.

Thank you for the link to the McGhie page! It looks old, but I think things are pretty much still the same as far as numbered lists go. Having a better understanding of how the system really works should be useful.

Online & mobile editing: Personally, I strongly prefer the desktop version, and only use it. And in my immediate team I tell them to only use the desktop version, though they sometimes forget. Outside my immediate team there is not much I can do. Explaining the issue to people was ineffective. And I have no authority to change their workflow. They use Onedrive via a web browser to access files, it opens up the document for them in the browser, and they read/edit it from there. Making it worse, they are frequently just using the web interface to view a document but autosave saves "changes." I.e. they did not actually change anything, but a change shows up in the file revision history. And then sometimes random bad things happen to list numbering... I wish Microsoft would take some time to everything to fix this basic functionality! Or at least let me set my files to some sort of "Web is read-only, edit in desktop application" mode.