Word 2010 reformats a paragraph when trying to restart a numbered list using a custom style

In a properly designed specification template it should never be necessary to use the restart numbering feature.  I say that from having used Word to create Engineering Specifications and Reports since version 1.0 for DOS about 30 years ago now.

To see how to properly set up numbered styles in later versions of Word, see the article "How to create numbered headings or outline numbering in your Microsoft Word document" on the following page of the Late Shauna Kelly's website:

http://www.ShaunaKelly.com/word/numbering/OutlineNumbering.html

I disagree with Doug - it is quite common for specification documents to have lists which need restarting. I generally use macros to control the outline list numbering streams for each style. 

Without seeing your document, we can only guess as to what the problem is with your template. I can't tell you why Word 2010 is any different to Word 2003 because I don't think this behaviour has changed between those versions.

If you are using the restart command and the formatting is changing then I would predict either of two problems:

1. You are trying to restart a list that is not level 1 in the outline list template

2. Your paragraph is not formatted in exactly the paragraph style ie it has local formatting. If Ctrl-Q and Ctrl-Space change the paragraph in any way then you can tell the paragraph has local formatting.

Thank you so much for your reply.  I am not using outline numbering as I have found it to be even more of a hassle for me than individual styles within the template.  Each Paragraph type within the spec template has it's own style.  I will check the local formatting and see if that is the problem. How do I fix it if it is?

Thank you for your reply.  I have been using Word since DOS Version 2 and I have not had this problem with my specification template until the 2010 version.  

I read the website and it unfortunately did not address my issue as I am not using outline numbering.  I find the outline numbering to be even more of a problem than individual styles.

So did you ever get this figured out? I'm having the same problem...and it's annoying, as you said. 

If you are saying that the indents change as you restart a numbered paragraph, then you haven't set up the indentation properly in the first place. Word is very picky about that.

In Word 2007 or later, click the actual list number (you'll see that Word highlights all numbers at the same numbering level). Right-click to display the context menu and choose Adjust List Indents.

In the Adjust List Indents dialog box, "Number position" defines the position of the list number. "Text indent" defines the indents for the second and subsequent text lines in a numbered paragraph. If you have selected "Tab character" for "Follow number with," you can use "Add a tab stop at" to define the location of the text following immediately after the list number. All measurements are from the left margin.

Typically, if you want a hanging indent, "Text indent" and "Add tab stop at" should be set to the same value. Note that "Add tab stop at" is primarily for backward compatibility reasons nowadays, as Word assumes the presence of a tab stop at the location of the "Text indent." It's still wise to specify a value.

When you are done, click OK in the dialog box.

Note that if you are working with a multilevel list, the Adjust List Indents command will display the Multilevel List dialog box instead. The same principles apply, though, for each of up to nine numbering levels.