Manuscript formatting often needs line numbers—whether for peer review, editing, or submission guidelines. Here’s how to add, tweak, and fix line numbers in Microsoft Word and other tools as of 2026.
Quick Fix Summary
Want line numbers in Word? Go to Layout > Line Numbers > Continuous. To turn them off, pick Layout > Line Numbers > None.
What’s actually going on here?
Line numbering adds sequential numbers at the start of each line. Reviewers love this—it helps them point to exact spots in your manuscript. By default, numbers restart on every page unless you switch to Continuous, which keeps counting from start to finish. Tables? They don’t get numbers unless you force them in.
How to add line numbers (Microsoft Word, Version 24.10 as of 2026)
- Open your manuscript in Word.
- Head to the Layout tab in the ribbon.
- Click Line Numbers in the Page Setup group.
- Pick an option:
- Continuous: Numbers keep going without resetting.
- Restart Each Page: Numbers start over at 1 on every page.
- Restart Each Section: Numbers reset only where you’ve added section breaks.
- To remove line numbers, go back to Layout > Line Numbers > None.
- Need to hide numbers for one paragraph? Right-click it, choose Paragraph > Line and Page Breaks, check Suppress line numbers, and hit OK.
Got a document split into sections? Want the numbering to match everywhere?
- Hit Ctrl+A to select everything.
- Go to Layout > Line Numbers > Line Numbering Options.
- In the Apply to dropdown, pick Whole document.
- Click OK to lock it in.
Why didn’t this work?
- Section breaks messing things up? Line numbers respect those. If your document’s chopped into sections, you might need to apply numbering to each one separately. Merge or delete breaks via Layout > Breaks > Remove Section Break if they’re not supposed to be there.
- Tables acting up? Tables made with the Insert Table tool won’t show line numbers. Either convert text to a table via Insert > Table, or number lines manually outside the table.
- Word acting weird? Older versions can glitch. Make sure you’re on Word Version 24.10 or later. Update it via File > Account > Update Options > Update Now.
How to keep this from becoming a headache
- Stick to styles: Use heading styles like Heading 1 to separate sections. It keeps formatting clean and avoids clashes with line numbering.
- Skip manual line breaks: Use Shift+Enter for soft breaks. Hard paragraph breaks (just hit Enter) make line numbering work right. Toggle Home > Show/Hide ¶ to spot sneaky manual formatting.
- Save a template: Build a manuscript template with line numbering already set up. Save it as a .dotx file via File > Save As > Word Template (*.dotx) so you can reuse it.
- Double-check submission rules: Journals have their own preferences. APA Style, for example, wants continuous numbering starting at 1 on page one, while some academic presses prefer restarting each page.
Other tools work too. In Google Docs, go to File > Page Setup > Margins and Line Numbers—though the options aren’t as robust as Word’s. LaTeX users? Add line numbers with the lineno package by tossing \usepackage{lineno} and \linenumbers into your preamble.
