Separate numbered lists inherit the same numbering

Bug graveyard
1

Steps to reproduce

1. a
2. b
3. c
# Header
1. d
2. e
3. f
4. g

Then in line 3. c, go tab (to indent), then shift+tab (to outdent)
The second list (below the header) will change its numbering, starting with 4

This persists in different scenarios, see the video below (the forum here prevents me from uploading it directly, for some reason):

Did you follow the troubleshooting guide? Y

Expected result

Numbering stays separate

Actual result

1. a
2. b
3. c
# Header
4. d
5. e
6. f
7. g

Environment

SYSTEM INFO:
Obsidian version: v1.8.3
Installer version: v1.7.7
Operating system: Darwin Kernel Version 24.1.0: Thu Oct 10 21:05:14 PDT 2024; root:xnu-11215.41.3~2/RELEASE_ARM64_T8103 24.1.0
Login status: logged in
Language: en
Catalyst license: insider
Insider build toggle: on
Live preview: on
Base theme: adapt to system
Community theme: none
Snippets enabled: 0
Restricted mode: on

RECOMMENDATIONS:
none

Additional information

Not sure if it’s the same as Auto numbered list keep adding number when enter in an indented codeblock – I couldn’t quite get what’s the issue there

9 Likes
2

I think mine is different from yours. My problem is that I usually write code under a list. Before the auto number feature was added, I can just enter within the code block for a new line normally, there wasn’t any number added when enter. Now every new line in a list is added a number, even in the code block under the list.

3

thanks

4

will be fixed 1.8.5

7 Likes
5

This is indeed a critical issue that breaks notes. I’ve already had one of my large notes affected - all lists received continuous numbering, and I spent a lot of time fixing it. It would be great to at least have an option to disable this behavior. Really looking forward to a fix in version 1.8.5, and hoping it comes as soon as possible.

9 Likes
6

Something similar happened to me. I have a note with almost 100k words and it is divided into multiple headings. Most headings have numbered items and the number of the items are really important. I pasted an item with a number in the middle of the note and ALL the numbers from the headings below changed. Fortunately, I quickly noticed and rewrote only the last section from an older version of the file I luckily had on my phone.

Since it is critical, I’ve downgraded to 1.7.7 temporarily. Here’s how to do it for anyone who’s interested.

3 Likes
7

Honestly, i’m staggered that this kind of data corruption bug can slip through into production, and be left unfixed for days

It takes considerable effort to go through long notes to fix numbering, which has to be repeated each time the file gets re-corrupted

Isn’t the point of dev to prevent this kind of corruption of customer data for prod releases?

Do we need a third “auto-update” option to ignore “dev & production releases” and wait for some differently flagged “safe release”?

Wow

5 Likes
8

Unfortunately, this problem was not caught during the insider period and the days following the public release coincided with a travelling period for most of the team.

3 Likes
9

And users have the option to turn off automatic updates if they want to err of the side of caution.

4 Likes
10

still having this problem in Mac, and the latest version in Mac is still 1.8.4, any information related to this?

11

this “feature” has been annoying. In addition to the aforementioned bugs (lists being forced even between headers), the forced ordering of markdown ordered lists has been a pain to work with. “ordering” of lists should be made into a hotkey + toggle option, rather than preventing users from customizing how they order lists.

12

When can this problem be fixed approximately?

13

Already fixed in Catalyst builds it seems:

14

Hello, greetings, and happy 2025! After the release of version 1.8.5 Catalyst and the correction of the issue with ordered lists, I have a concern that worries me a lot. Will the update automatically fix the previous errors in the note lists, or will it be an update whose solutions are only aimed at preventing the issue in the future? Honestly, the solution should also include repairing the previous errors. Thank you for the Obsidian project.

1 Like
15

It cannot know what the previous numbers were - so it seems to me very unlikely that it update previously-edited lines…

1 Like
16

I am still experiencing this issue on 1.8.8 insider PC

17

Sadly, I confirm this is still an issue in 1.8.8 on macOS. Slightly different, but still.

Issue:

1. a
## anything here
2. b

No issue:

1. a

## anything here
1. b -> reverts to "2"

I can see where it’s coming from, the no-line-break variant being treated as some content relevant to the numbered list, possibly. But this definitely cannot be handled this way for all content. If anything, Obsidian should allow continuing the numbering by manually setting the “b” element to “2”, rather than enforcing it at all times.

At this point, I feel like it would be nice of the Obsidian team to address this issue by providing an additional tool to fix the numbering vault-wide, for those interested (I have already seen folks calling for that). Me, personally, an over a month later, I have dozens upon dozens of lists that have broken numbering and require fixing. I’ve done this manually for some of those, only to see it didn’t fix anything after a while. I love Obsidian and have been an avid supporter from the early days, but this is the first time where I’m seeing such a significant omission appearing in production. Hope this is all just temporary :slight_smile:

1 Like
18

We introduced a different regression in v.1.8.8. Will be fixed in 1.8.9.

19

I don’t have a reproducible example yet but I feel like this issue hasn’t been definitively fixed—it still occurs in certain conditions. I mainly notice it with indented list items changing their numbered positions.

20

Sadly this issue still exists, I found another example today:

> [!NOTE]
> **part 1**
> 1. list 1
> 2. is this
> 
> **part 2**
> 3. list 2
> 4. is this

As a temporary fix, putting a toggle into settings for enabling or disabling the number fixing would be great.

1 Like