Adding Prefix Text to Microsoft Word Heading Numbering

Sometimes you may need to customize Microsoft Word heading numbering and add some text as a prefix to the numbers. For example, you may need to change “1. Introduction” to “Chapter 1: Introduction” by adding the word “Chapter” as a prefix.

Here I assume that you have already added numbered multilevel heading styles to your document. If you want to learn word heading numbering, you may read “How to Create Numbered Multilevel Heading Styles in Microsoft Word“.

You may also read “How to Create Professional Reports with Microsoft Word“

Steps to add text as a prefix to Microsoft Word heading numbering

1. Place the cursor somewhere in the heading 1 title (Important: Make sure you’re using built-in heading styles in your document and added numbering to headings.)
2. Go to; Home>Multilevel List (in the Paragraph group)> Define New Multilevel List…
3. In the number format section of the “Define New Multilevel List” dialog box, enter your prefix (Ex. Chapter) in the text box below “Enter formatting for number:”. Do not delete the number.
4. Click Ok

This change is applied to all the numbered heading 1 titles in the document. If you want to have more custom changes you can expand the “Define New Multilevel List” dialog box using More>> button.