Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Changing Caption Numbering Styles.

Changing Caption Numbering Styles

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 15, 2014)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


3

If you use the captioning feature of Word, you can automatically number all your captions. For instance, all your tables and figures could be numbered using consecutive numbers. In addition, Word allows you to specify how you want the numbers to appear in the caption. To change numbering styles for your captions, follow these steps:

  1. Display the Caption dialog box. (Choose Insert | Caption, Insert | Reference | Caption, or References | Insert Caption, depending on your version of Word.) (See Figure 1.)
  2. Figure 1. The Caption dialog box.

  3. Click on the Numbering button. Word displays the Caption Numbering dialog box. (See Figure 2.)
  4. Figure 2. The Caption Numbering dialog box.

  5. Using the Format drop-down list, choose the format you want used for your caption numbers.
  6. Click on OK to close the Caption Numbering dialog box.
  7. Click on OK to insert your caption.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (624) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Changing Caption Numbering Styles.

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. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Determining Picture Size in a Macro

When processing a document using a macro, you may need for your macro to figure out the sizes of the images in your ...

Discover More

Creating an Index Entry for a Range of Pages

Putting together an index for your documents can be challenging, but Word provides some great tools to make the task ...

Discover More

Deleting Dates within Text Strings

Finding and replace dates contained within other text in a cell can be a bit tricky. This tip looks at some approaches to ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 2013 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access) with VBA programming, using it for writing macros, automating Office applications, and creating custom applications. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2013 today!

More WordTips (menu)

Automatic Periods after a Caption

Word can automatically add captions to certain elements of your documents, such as figures or tables. You can control ...

Discover More

Formatting Captions

When you add captions to elements in your document, Word allows you to modify how those captions are formatted. Here's ...

Discover More

Turning Off Automatic Captioning

Word can be configured so that it automatically adds captions to some of your design elements (tables, figures, etc.). ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 7 - 7?

2017-02-10 06:32:24

GeordieLad

Hi Erika,

Unless I'm missing something, the logical way, surely, is to use Find and Replace. Inputting Fig. in Find and Figure in Replace and then selecting Replace all should achieve the desired result.


2017-02-10 03:09:22

Erika

In my thesis there are 77 figures that read as "Fig. x" under each figure. I would like to change all figure captions to read "Figure x" (instead of Fig.).
How can I make this universal change throughout the document?


2014-08-27 16:03:50

SE_2000

Any suggestions on how to create a figure title with the number in brackets as show below?

Figure [3]: High Level


This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.