Hi, I’ve got a stupid problem with chapter numbering. The automatic numbers are working fine, I’ve formatted them to my taste except that they don’t sit quite in the centre of the page as there’s always a tab after the number that pushes everything to the left. This looks messy as the chapter name underneath is perfectly centred.
Any ideas where this tab comes from and ideally how to get rid of it? Thanks.
Absolutely none without additional details. First LO version, OS name and save format.
My crystal ball suggests you have split your chapter heading into two paragraphs and that you probably added direct formatting over the Heading 1 paragraph style.
For optimal diagnostic, attach your document to your question.
Please, please, edit your question instead of answering with a comment.
Well who put that there as a default!!! Many thanks!
It should definitely be there by default. The numbering is just the numbering, and is followed by the name. There is usually a separator between the number and the name; in your case, it should likely be a newline, but the name should not be in a separate paragraph.
Anyway: you have unfortunately ignored what @ajlittoz wrote:
Without that, the bad manual formatting in your document can’t be pointed out using a screenshot.
Yes, because you probably don’t understand what you’re doing. There are subtleties with auto-numbered paragraphs (chapter numbering is such an auto-numbering occurrence). But without analysing in depth your document, I’d bet your direct formatting is the culprit.
When it comes to chapter numbering, everything should be done through Tools>Chapter Numbering and Heading n customisation.
Once again, attach a 1- or 2-page sample file.
Hi, I didn’t want to attach the document because it’s my book so a9 long and b) private. 
I probably don’t know what I’m doing but that’s a bit of a shame as I’ve been using word processors ever since MS Works on Windows 3.1. The route you suggested is exactly what I followed. I’ll do a quick sample
Here’s a example doc …
Chapter numbering.odt (12.1 KB)
Don’t attach your book but a 1-page sample file with only your chapter heading and an anonymous paragraph, just like you typed your real book. What is important is to see where your routine fails.
Here’s a very simple file with just a heading 1, numbering on its own line, with different character style for its looks, just to show the full power of LibreOffice Writer. Study each tab of the Tools - Chapter numbering dialog box carefully.
title on two lines.odt (11,9 KB)
Your numbering alignment (see screenshot of the Chapter Numbering dialog above) is set to Centered. Set it to Left.
Still I’d consider that your chapter numbering be formatted best with “Numbering followed by: New Line”, and the paragraph style used double line spacing. Then you’d not need the other paragraph for the name, and the name would naturally appear in ToCs, header/footer references, Navigator, etc.
Chapter numbering - variant.odt (18.0 KB)
Okay, none of your fault, but I only saw by sheer good luck that you edited that message to add the download. For the site management: this is a good example of why I hate that you aren’t notified of edited posts anymore.
There’s a comment earlier that recommended editing posts rather than adding new replies, so I did it that way.
So my mistake was to select ‘centred’ when I wanted the chapter number centred?
You wanted not the “chapter number” centered, but the whole paragraph centered. The centered option of chapter number means that in a column of chapter headings, their numbers will be centered:
Centering of numbers is orthogonal to centering of lines of text; and combining two “centered” formattings makes things even more complicated.
I think I understand but it’s counter-intuitive to me or needs a proper explanation in the dialogue. Anyway, you’ve all solved my problem so many thanks!! 
For the reference: Numbered and bulleted lists alignment on LibreOffice Writer from @RGB-es is related.
