Cross-Referencing to Line Numbers

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated December 5, 2020)

Michael asked if there was a way to create a cross-reference to a specific line number in a document. He wanted the cross reference to be something like "see line 42," where line 42 contains the item he wants cross-referenced.

Word doesn't have a way to generate cross-references to line numbers. The only way you could work around this limitation is to "fake" your line numbers. In other words, for a limited number of lines you manually insert numbers at the beginning of each line. These numbers could be created with SEQ fields, and you could bookmark each of the fields. You could then create a cross-reference to the bookmarks, and Word would insert the desired cross-reference.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (281) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

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