How To Stop Google Docs From Automatically Creating Number Lists

How to Disable the Automatic List Detection in Google Docs – Quick Steps

Step 1: Open a Google Doc

Step 2: Navigate to the top menu and click on “Tools.”

Step 3: Choose “Preferences.”

Step 4: Select the checkbox beside “Automatically detect lists.”

Step 5: Click “OK” to confirm the changes.

Google Docs is a free online document editor provided by Google. Google Docs makes it easier to create a document for personal and professional use with various features. Google Docs has a feature that helps users type quickly without spending more time on formatting the document with lists that is Auto Numbering.

If your document has auto numbering enabled and you want to get rid of these then you are at the right place. In this article, we will tell you how you can turn off automatically creating numbered lists in Google Docs.

What is Auto Numbering Lists in Google Docs

Auto numbering of lists starts when we type the number 1 followed by a full stop and press space bar on the keyboard. Immediately the indentation is added to the content with auto numbering on every next line.

Let us see how auto-numbering lists work in Google Docs below:

Auto numbering lists in Google Docs automatically add numbers and indentation to every new line

How to Stop Google Docs from Automatically Creating Number Lists

Step 1: Open the Document

Open Google Docs in any web browser on your desktop or laptop device. Open the document in Google Docs in which the auto-numbering lists are to be stopped.

Document opened in Google Docs

Step 2: Access Tools and Select Preferences

In the menu bar of Google Docs, click ‘Tools’, and a dropdown opens. Click ‘Preferences’ in the dropdown.

Click ‘Tools’ -> ‘Preferences’

Step 3: Tick Off Automatically Detect Lists and Click OK

A preferences dialog box will appear. Under the General tab, check off the check box to automatically detect lists.

Untick the checkbox next to ‘Automatically detect lists’

Step 4: Check Automatic Numbering Turned Off

Now the auto numbering is turned OFF. Check this by typing starting from number 1. We can see that there is no automatic indentation added to it. Also, the user presses the ‘Enter’ key and goes to the next line, there is no automatic numbering.

Auto numbering lists stopped in Google Docs

Trouble Stopping Lists Auto-Detection

The above-mentioned steps to stop auto-numbering of lists work only when the user types number 1 followed by dot and space. But if we choose to create numbered lists or bulleted lists by clicking from the toolbar of Google Docs, the above-mentioned steps of stopping the auto-numbering of lists do not work.

How to Create Numbered Lists

What if want to Create Numbered Lists? If this is the case that auto numbering is disabled or you wish to create numbered lists then you can create by following the below given steps.

Step 1: Open the document

Open Google Docs in a web browser on your device. Open the document.

Document opened in Google Docs

Step 2: Click the Numbered List or Bullet List Icon

In the toolbar of Google Docs, click the ‘Numbered List’ icon to start numbering lists now.

Click on ‘Numbered Lists’ in the toolbar of Google Docs

In the toolbar of Google Docs, click the ‘Bulleted List’ icon to start bulleted lists now.

Click on ‘Bulleted Lists’ in the toolbar of Google Docs

Conclusion

In this article, we have discussed about auto numbering lists in Google Docs and also the steps to stop the auto numbering lists in Google Docs. Numbering lists are used to mention some information in a step-by-step or chronological order. We have also discussed how stopping the Automatic numbering of lists does not stop numbering or bulleting when manually selected from the toolbar of Google Docs. In this article, we have come to know how to stop the automatic numbering of lists to quickly work on our content without worrying about unwanted indentation and automatically enabling numbering.

FAQs

Is it possible to restart auto numbering lists in Google Docs after stopping auto numbering lists?

Yes, we can enable auto numbering lists again in Google Docs by checking the checkbox ‘Automatically detect lists’ in the preferences popup.

Is it possible to stop auto numbering totally in Google Docs for all documents by default?

No, currently there is no such feature to stop auto numbering lists for all documents in Google Docs at once. We have to stop auto numbering lists in each and every document in Google Docs we want.

Can we disable auto numbering lists in certain lists in a document, and again restart auto numbering lists in certain specific parts of a document in Google Docs?

Yes, we can stop and restart auto numbering of lists at any specific parts of any document in Google Docs.

How do I turn off auto numbering in Google Docs?

Answer: In the tool bar of Google Docs, click ‘Tools’ -> ‘Preferences’. A popup window opens. Untick the checkbox of ‘Automatically detect lists’. Click ‘Done’ button in the popup.

How do I remove number formatting in Google Docs?

Answer: By selecting and highlighting the lists which are numbered, and clicking the ‘Numbered List’ icon in the tool bar of Google Docs, number formatting is removed in Google Docs.

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