Heading numbering issue.

Question

In the navigation pane, the numbering for the heading 3 looks fine but in the page, I don't see the numbering. But instead it looks like what I have attached for the reference.

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Answer 1

Thanks for the sample. Looking at it, I conclude that the font formatting of level 3 is damaged.

Running the macro below will fix the numbering in the sample document. When you run it, the macro will actually process all multilevel lists in the current document, and therefore it may be a bit slow, especially on larger documents. (Maybe someone can improve the macro, making it more efficient.)

You can copy and paste the code into a module in the VBA Editor (Alt+F11 or Alt+Fn+F11 on some keyboards). See https://www.gmayor.com/installing_macro.htm .

Sub FixListNumbering()
'Macro created in November 2025 by MVP Stefan Blom
Dim lt As ListTemplate
Dim i As ListLevel
For Each lt In ActiveDocument.ListTemplates
For Each i In lt.ListLevels
i.Font.Reset
Next i
Next lt
End Sub

Answer 2

Your Modify Style dialog indicates that the style in use has a ridiculously long name. Perhaps it is an alias for Heading 3? The easiest way to apply the numbering style shown is to select the highlighted list from the List Library:

This automatically links that numbering to Word's built-in heading styles, so all you have to do to have the correct numbering is to have the correct style. In the current instance, be aware that you cannot modify numbering (or indents) from within the Modify Style dialog; you must us the Define New Multilevel List dialog. In this instance, it's possible that the indents for this numbering level are incorrect.

Answer 3

The indents could be the problem, causing the para number not to display properly for level 3, as Suzanne suggested. Another possibility is that the numbering for level 3 has been inadvertently formatted as hidden. You can check that in the Multilevel List dialog box. Click the affected level and then click Font. Click to clear the "Hidden" attribute. Confirm with OK.