In "Word" if I type "1.  something" and then press return, I
automatically get a "2.    " and a tab space. How can I turn this
automatic facility off?

Greetings Perplexed:

Okay, here's what you do:

In Word, click on Tools and choose AutoCorrect

When that grey box pops up, there will be tabs across the top of it. 
Choose the tab that says "Autoformat as you type"

On that screen you will see
"Automatic bulleted lists"
"Automatic numbered lists"

Uncheck those boxes.

Also, then click on the "Autoformat" tab in that same sceen (you
should see that tab also) and uncheck
"Lists"
and
"Automatic bulleted lists"

You may also uncheck other boxes for functions on those two screens
that may annoy you.  :)

Now, if it still does it after that, then read below the Search
Strategy (but the above should do the trick).


Should you require any clarification of this information, please
request it before rating and closing this question and I'll be happy
to assist you further.  This should be simple for you but I realize
that sometimes it's hard to translate directions when not present at a
computer.  You may want to print out this answer and have it nearby
for easier reading.

Best regards,
journalist-ga


SEARCH STRATEGY:

personal experience with Word


**********

The program's Help function also offers this additional information
(the following is quoted from Microsoft Word Help - all is quoted
between the above and below asterisks).

"I've turned off automatic formatting, and Word still formats my
document."

First, make sure that you've turned off the options on the correct
tab. When you click AutoCorrect on the Tools menu, you can turn off
two types of automatic formatting:

AutoFormat As You Type controls which automatic changes Microsoft Word
makes as you type.

AutoFormat controls the automatic changes Word makes when you format
the document in a separate pass.

If neither of the above addresses your problem, try one of the
following:

If unwanted symbols keep reappearing   If you've cleared the Symbol
characters (--) with symbols ( — ) check box on the AutoFormat As You
Type tab, and Word continues to insert symbols, one or more symbols
may be set up as AutoCorrect entries. On the Tools menu, click
AutoCorrect, click the AutoCorrect tab, and then see if the Replace
box contains the symbol Word is automatically replacing. You can
either delete the entry by selecting it from the list and clicking
Delete, or turn off AutoCorrect completely by clearing the Replace
text as you type check box.

If text style changes unexpectedly   If Word keeps applying unwanted
styles to text, make sure automatic updating is not turned on for the
style that Word applied. To turn off automatic updating for styles,
click Style on the Format menu, select the style in the Styles box,
and then click Modify. Clear the Automatically update check box.

If Word keeps formatting text as headings   If Word continues to
format text as headings even after you've cleared the Headings check
box on the AutoFormat As You Type tab (Tools menu, AutoCorrect
command), clear the Define styles based on your formatting check box
under Automatically as you type.

*********

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Request for Answer Clarification by perplexed-ga on 05 Oct 2003 16:19 PDT

Thanks Journalist-ga, that worked perfectly. Phew, what a relief!

Perfect answer

Perplexed, I'm delighted the instructions worked smoothly for you and
many thanks for the rating and comments!  Those automatic lists drove
me crazy for a time until I learned to remove them, too.  :)

Best regards,
journalist-ga