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  #1  
Old 03-25-2015, 10:48 PM
osama osama is offline Changing a list indentation changes its numbering Windows 8 Changing a list indentation changes its numbering Office 2013
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Hello,

I have an annoying problem with Word 2013.
Whenever I change the indentation of a numbered list, its numbering is also changed. MS Word automatically connects it with a previous list!
I tried removing "Automatically update" option in "Modify Style" but this caused Word to change only the indentation of a single item in the list.
What I need is to change the indentation of the entire list without touching anything else. Is this possible in Word?

Thanks
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Old 03-30-2015, 12:35 PM
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To change the indentation for a numbered list, click the first list symbol; you'll notice that Word selects all items of the same list (level). Right-click and choose Adjust List Indents from the context menu. For a single-level list, you'll see the Adjust List Indents dialog box; for a multilevel list, you'll see the Multilevel List dialog box.

For a single-level list, you change the "Number position," "Text indent," and/or "Add tab stop at" as desired. "Number position" determines the position for the list number. "Text indent" determines the starting point of the second and subsequent text lines. "Add tab stop" determines the starting point for the text following the list number. Note that all values refer to the left margin.

See also the "Equalizing the space" section of the article at http://wordfaqs.mvps.org/NumberAlignment2007.htm.
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Old 03-30-2015, 02:47 PM
osama osama is offline Changing a list indentation changes its numbering Windows 8 Changing a list indentation changes its numbering Office 2013
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Thanks Stefan,

All you mentioned is really valuable, but the problem is that whenever I click the first list symbol, Word selects all items of the the list and also the items of another list in a previous list. The two lists are separated by several pages containing many other lists, paragraphs ... etc. I don't know how to tell Word that the two lists are separate!
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Old 03-30-2015, 03:36 PM
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Is numbering continuous for these lists? In that case, Word may treat them as one and the same.

If you restart the numbering for the second list (use the right-click menu), then the lists should be disconnected. Note that you can create a numbered paragraph style for the second list; this ensures that Word sees the lists as separate (no matter the starting number).

Are you allowed to share the document (or a relevant portion of it)?
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Old 03-30-2015, 04:50 PM
osama osama is offline Changing a list indentation changes its numbering Windows 8 Changing a list indentation changes its numbering Office 2013
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I tried restarting numbering. Only the first item is disconnected and the following items are still connected with the previous list!

I unchecked "Automatically update" option in "Modify Style" window. This solved the problem, but I no longer can change the indent of the list by moving the tab handles in the ruler as it changes only the selected item. I have to either change the indent of all items one by one, or use the "Format Painter" tool to copy the indent of the first item to the rest. However, both methods is tedious.
I don't know whether Word provides some way to change the indent of the whole list by dragging the handles in the ruler while only one list item is selected. I wish such feature exists

Quote:
Note that you can create a numbered paragraph style for the second list
Do you mean creating a style for every list? I don't think you mean that. There are many lists in the file! Please, explain this point if it can solve the problem.

Thanks in advance
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Old 03-30-2015, 05:00 PM
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If you create a numbered paragraph style you can use the right-click option to Restart at 1 whenever you want.

Note that using a style assumes that you want the same indent settings for all items, even if you restart the numbering (and these settings should be specified via Adjust List Indents, not by dragging indent indicators on the ruler or using the Paragraph dialog box).
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Old 03-31-2015, 02:34 AM
osama osama is offline Changing a list indentation changes its numbering Windows 8 Changing a list indentation changes its numbering Office 2013
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stefan Blom View Post
...and these settings should be specified via Adjust List Indents, not by dragging indent indicators on the ruler or using the Paragraph dialog box).
Thanks. This was the reason of the problem. I thought both has the same effect, so I have never been using "Adjust List Indents". I think it would be more flexible if Microsoft modified this.

Thanks in advance
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Old 03-31-2015, 02:46 AM
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The issue has been around for quite some time. It may not even be considered a bug by Microsoft, anymore...
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