When you’re editing a document or having a document edited by someone else, it’s often useful to know the number of the line of text on the page. For example, if a co-worker says you have a typo in the third line of your doc, that’s easy to find. But if they say you have a typo on the twenty-third line of your document, you’re stuck counting down twenty-three lines with a pretty good chance (at least if you’re me) that you’ll miscount. That’s where line numbering in Word comes into play.

In Word, the line numbering feature will add a column in the left margin that tells you the number of each line of text. This can be customized so that you only see the line number for every fifth or tenth or X line of text. It can also number through the whole document, or restart with one at the top of every page, or at every section break.

Turn On Line Numbering in Word 2007 & 2010

To see line numbers, you’ll need to be in either Print Layout or Full Screen Reading view. To switch to these views, go to the View tab and click on the Print Layout or Full Screen Reading button.

1. Go to the Page Layout tab.
2. In the Page Setup section, click the Line Numbers button.
3. In the menu that pops down, select the type of numbering you would like.
   Continuous – will number the lines continuously throughout the document
   Restart Each Page – will restart at 1 at the top of each page of the document
   Restart Each Section – will restart at 1 at the beginning of each section
   None – turns off line numbering

Turn Off Line Numbering for a Specific Paragraph in Word 2007 & 2010

This will not only turn off the numbers displayed for that specific paragraph, it will keep the paragraph from being included in the total line count.

1. Select the paragraph or paragraphs. (Use the Ctrl key to select non-adjacent paragraphs.)
2. Go to the Page Layout tab.
3. In the Page Setup section, click the Line Numbers button.
4. In the menu that pops down, select Suppress for Current Paragraph.

Number on an Interval in Word 2007 & 2010

1. Go to the Page Layout tab.
2. In the Page Setup section, click the Line Numbers button.
3. In the menu that pops down, select Line Numbering Options.
4. Click the Line Numbering button at the bottom of the window that opens.
5. In the Count by box, enter the interval you would like to count by. (If you want to count by fives, enter 5.)
6. Click OK. Click OK again.

Note:  The Start at box in the Line Number Options dialog box will determine the number of the first line of text. Leave it at 1 unless you want the first line of text to have another number.