Document Formatting

How to Customize Section Numbering in LaTeX

LaTeX automatically numbers sections. Here's how to customize the numbering to match your needs.

Control Numbering Depth

Set how deep numbering goes:

% secnumdepth levels:
% -1 = no numbering
%  0 = only chapters
%  1 = chapters and sections
%  2 = ... and subsections
%  3 = ... and subsubsections

\setcounter{secnumdepth}{2}  % Number up to subsections

Remove Numbers from Specific Sections

Use starred versions:

\section{Numbered Section}      % 1. Numbered Section
\section*{Unnumbered Section}  % No number

% To add unnumbered to TOC:
\section*{Acknowledgements}
\addcontentsline{toc}{section}{Acknowledgements}

Custom Number Format

Change how numbers appear:

% Roman numerals for sections:
\renewcommand{\thesection}{\Roman{section}}
% Produces: I, II, III...

% Alphabetic subsections:
\renewcommand{\thesubsection}{\thesection.\Alph{subsection}}
% Produces: 1.A, 1.B, 1.C...

% Start counting from different number:
\setcounter{section}{4}  % Next section is 5

💡 Tips

•Journal templates usually handle numbering automatically
•\arabic, \roman, \Roman, \alph, \Alph for different styles
•tocdepth controls what appears in table of contents

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