Add Line Numbers to Text

Every line gets its number, a full stop and a space in front of it, starting at 1:

When the list reaches 10 lines or more, the numbers are padded on the left with spaces so they all take the same width. With 12 lines, lines 1 to 9 start with one space, so in a monospaced font the full stops line up in a column above 10., 11. and 12.. With 100 lines or more, the first nine get two spaces. The padding uses spaces, not zeros, so the numbers read as 1, 2, 3 rather than 01, 02, 03.

There are no options for the starting number, the separator or the padding.

Every line is numbered, including empty ones. This input has a blank second line and ends with a line break:

and it comes out as four numbered lines: 1. first, 2. , 3. third and 4. . The final line break counts as an empty fourth line.

That is what you want when the numbers must match line numbers in an editor, for example when you are discussing code or a log file. For a list where only the items should count, run it through Remove Empty Lines first and make sure there is no line break after the last item.

Numbers follow line breaks, not sentences. A paragraph typed as one long line gets one number however many lines it wraps to on screen. If you paste a document and want numbered sentences, put each sentence on its own line first.

Indentation is kept after the number, so numbered code still shows its structure.

• Email and chat: numbers let people reply about "line 7" without quoting it.
• Code reviews and bug reports: paste the numbered snippet into a code block so the spacing and alignment survive.
• Word processors: the numbers are plain text, not an automatic numbered list. If you add or remove a line later, they won't update, so number the text when it's final.
• Spreadsheets: each line lands in its own row with the number as part of the text. If you want the numbers in a column of their own, it is simpler to fill a number series in the spreadsheet and paste the unnumbered lines next to it.