By default, Microsoft Word comes with default heading styles (e.g. Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3….).

Default Headings

These defaults can be changed based on need. For example, I modified the default headings to look like this:

Modified the Default Headings in Word

So now I have a document that is structured like:

    1. Content
    1.1 Content
    1.2 Content
    1.2.1 Content
    2. Content
    2.1 Content
    2.1.1 Content
    2.1.2 Content
------ section break -------
    3. Content
    3.1 Content
    3.2 Content
    3.3 Content
    4. Content
------ section break -------
    5. Content
    5.1 Content
    5.2 Content
    5.3 Content
    5.3.1 Content

Each of the major areas of content are separated by sections. So, for purposes of this illustration, let's say I have 2 section breaks in this document separating 3 main areas of content.

However, what I need to do is restart the numbering at the beginning of each section and put a custom prefix is front of those numbers. Like this:

    X1. Content
    X1.1 Content
    X1.2 Content
    X1.2.1 Content
    X2. Content
    X2.1 Content
    X2.1.1 Content
    X2.1.2 Content
------ section break -------
    XI1 Content
    XI1.1 Content
    XI1.2 Content
    XI1.3 Content
    XI2 Content
------ section break -------
    XII1 Content
    XII1.1 Content
    XII1.2 Content
    XII1.3 Content
    XII1.3.1 Content

I tried doing this with the simple command sequence of "Restart Numbering" and "Set Numbering Value", but if you are using numbered headers, it won't let you put a letter prefix in front of it.

Let's say I have up to three levels per section -- x, x.x, x.x.x --- my thinking is that I need to create 3 custom heading styles per section for a total of, in this example, 9 custom heading styles (if my math is right). I was hoping there was an easier way than that.

Any suggestions?

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Which version of Word are you using? – Dmitry Selitskiy Jul 26 '11 at 19:45
Word 2010. I basically went through and did the brute force method, making it easier on myself by creating a template and then modifying the style template and using a "Save As" type of mechanism for each numbering style I needed. – Joel Marcey Jul 26 '11 at 21:52
I just played around with this scenario and came to the same conclusion: a group of heading styles per section. It doesn't look like you can automatically switch the numbering style after a section break. – Dmitry Selitskiy Jul 27 '11 at 4:51
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