Forum Discussion
Numbering and bullets in Word docs keep disappearing
When working as a team on Word files within SharePoint, I constantly have problems with things like heading numbering disappearing (or changing from numbers to bullets), bullets going missing or bull...
I second AndrewB's response. I've used Shauna Kelly's guide for years and it always works fine on a local document. I also instruct all my users to access the Word documents only via the desktop app. In fact I have confirmed via screenshare that, with a fresh document set up correctly via Shauna's guide, with a template stored on a shared company server (NOT on a SharePoint), and with two of us in the document simultaneously, edits to bulleted lists, headings, or numbered lists, result in instability. One user may see the correct bullets and numbering on his/her screen while the other does not, and as the other user attempts to repair, the first user may lose the bullets and numbers on his/her screen. The thread is old but persistent because the issue has yet to be addressed, despite being brought to Microsoft's attention for at least 4 years.
The numbering problems are more than 30 years old. However, posting about problems here does not bring them to Microsoft's attention.
If you want, you can attach a sample document here with such problems and I or someone else will take a look at the problem. It may well be that coauthoring and multilevel lists do not work. I do not know. It may be, too, that although you did everything you thought was needed, the list is not stable.
What does bring the problem to Microsoft's attention? I've submitted the issue via their feedback portal many times over the years, as have other users. I'm aware that posting here does not bring it to their attention. I'm aware that the numbering struggles with MS Word have been persistent for a long time.
Coauthoring and multilevel lists do not work. I do know. I've been working on this specific issue for four years and tried dozens of solutions. As AndrewB says, I've used Shauna Kelley's guide for years and it always works on a local document.
If you really want to verify that multilevel lists do not work, you can certainly build your own template with custom headings and numbered lists and bulleted lists, attach it to a document stored on SharePoint, create some headings and lists and bullets in that document, and access it simultaneously with multiple user accounts. I cannot give you my company's corporate template, but even if I could, you'd have to repeat that specific procedure to observe the issue we're talking about.
Feedback does bring it to Microsoft's attention. That does not mean it gets fixed. The point I was making is that posts here and in other support forums do not reach their eyes and ears.
I do not use SharePoint. When I scroll to the top of the page, I see that this is a SharePoint forum. I got here by clicking a link on the Microsoft Word forum, which I monitor.
The second point I was trying to make is that even though you believe your template's numbering is set up according to those principles, the only way I can tell it is not a problem with the set up is to look at it. I am not doubting you, but I have seen many numbering lists not quite in conformance because a step was missed.
I am a fellow user, not a computer professional. I am trying to help.
I certainly accept as a possibility that multilevel lists are not stable with coauthoring. I know they are not if anyone editing the document is doing so using the online app or a mobil app.
Thank you. Yes, I used Shauna Kelly's article to set up my auto-numbered styles (lists and paragraph styles). This problem does not occur when I bring documents down and work on them locally. And it happens inconsistently. In other words, some documents are problematic, while others are not. Sounds like it's just one of the headaches we will have to deal with.
I've learned to tell my team not to worry about it and not to try to "fix" it. I wait until everyone is out of the doc, then use the organizer to reimport the problematic list and paragraph styles. It does result in extra work, especially when a new contributor joins a project and does something like type over many fields because they think the information is missing. Then I get to go back and reinsert the fields or rebuild cross-references, etc.
To clarify, this happens for all dynamic items, such as figure and table caption numbers, cross-references, doc property fields, and auto-numbered elements.
Thanks for you response.
