How To Do Roman Numerals in Google Docs

Tanja

Written by Tanja - Reviewed by Ivana Google Workplace / Docs

Published 8 months ago / updated 8 months ago 6 min read

Most people worldwide use Arabic numeration in their daily writing documentation.

But, that can become a bit boring over time, so to spice things up, there are Roman numerals that you can use.

Roman numerals are still famous, and people want to use them in modern days in books, movies, magazines, or sometimes in their music album lists.

Read this blog post to learn easy ways to find Roman numerals in Google Docs and how to use them for your benefit.

You can also read: How to restart numbering in Google Docs?

Why do people want to use Roman numerals?

There are many reasons why people use Roman numerals in documentation, and down below we gathered a list of only a few of them:

• To number the chapters in books.
• To number pages in appendices or introductions.
• They are used in astronomy documentation to designate moons and chemistry documentation to denote groups in the Periodic Table.
• They are used in annual sports events to mark the passage of years.
• To indicate separation of the acts in drama plays.
• To present something interesting to learn (for example, for kids).

How to add Roman numbers in Google Docs

1. Open Google docs and open a blank new document.
2. Click on the ‘Insert’ tab.

3. From the drop-down menu, choose and click on 'Special Characters'.

4. A search box will appear - type in ‘Roman’.

5. You will see a box displaying Roman numerals - to insert Roman numerals choose the one you want and press ‘Enter’.

And that is how it is done. You can proceed to add other Roman numerals in the same manner.

How to add Roman numerals as bullet points

If you are planning to use these Roman numerals as bullet points, these are the steps you need to take:

1. Open a Google Docs file and click on the ‘Numbered List’ option (right side toolbar).

2. A list will appear - choose and click on the ‘Roman’ number option.

How to add Roman numerals as page numbers in Google Docs

Even though Google Docs don’t have a built-in feature to add Roman numerals as page numbers, there is a workaround that you can try to do this.

1. Open a Google Docs document and click on the 'Insert' tab (toolbar menu).

2. When the menu bar opens, scroll down until you see the option Page Numbers - click on the arrow icon next to it.
3. Another menu will open up - choose whether to insert the page numbers as a header or a footer > select and click on one of the four options.

4. You will see a header or footer line show up on the page.

5. Your cursor and the Arabic numeral page number/s will be where you previously selected in the formatting.
6. Head back to the upper toolbar menu and click on 'Insert'.
7. From the menu, choose ‘Special Characters’.
8. Type in ‘Roman’.
9. When the Roman numerals menu opens, select all Roman numerals you want to use by clicking on them one by one.
10. Next, after you have added them, ‘cut’ one of the numerals you’ll use.
11. Highlight the Arabic page number on the footer/header to select it and paste the Roman numeral you cut earlier.

Quick Info: You need to repeat the same process till all the Arabic page numbers are replaced with Roman numerals. Make sure to tick the ‘different first page’ box so that the Roman page number you added on the previous page won’t appear in the upcoming pages.

Now that you know how to insert Roman numerals in Google Docs, you can also learn how to circle something in Google Docs, how to double underline in Google Docs, or how to insert a vertical line in Google Docs.

Or, if you are more on the artsier side you can also explore how to word art in Google Docs - we also have a blog post on that.