diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index bb4c31f6e..808fb0bba 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1634,6 +1634,7 @@ raw template
 {%- endblock in_prompt -%}
     """
 
+
 exporter_attr = AttrExporter()
 output_attr, _ = exporter_attr.from_notebook_node(nb)
 assert "raw template" in output_attr
diff --git a/docs/source/api/preprocessors.rst b/docs/source/api/preprocessors.rst
index 6276007a6..b5f74a9bc 100644
--- a/docs/source/api/preprocessors.rst
+++ b/docs/source/api/preprocessors.rst
@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@ Converting text
 
 .. autoclass:: HighlightMagicsPreprocessor
 
+.. autoclass:: NumberedHeadingsPreprocessor
+
 Metadata and header control
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
diff --git a/nbconvert/exporters/exporter.py b/nbconvert/exporters/exporter.py
index ca6739491..b446cfc71 100644
--- a/nbconvert/exporters/exporter.py
+++ b/nbconvert/exporters/exporter.py
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ class Exporter(LoggingConfigurable):
             "nbconvert.preprocessors.ExtractOutputPreprocessor",
             "nbconvert.preprocessors.ExtractAttachmentsPreprocessor",
             "nbconvert.preprocessors.ClearMetadataPreprocessor",
+            "nbconvert.preprocessors.NumberedHeadingsPreprocessor",
         ],
         help="""List of preprocessors available by default, by name, namespace,
         instance, or type.""",
diff --git a/nbconvert/preprocessors/__init__.py b/nbconvert/preprocessors/__init__.py
index d752edf90..de527d0ec 100644
--- a/nbconvert/preprocessors/__init__.py
+++ b/nbconvert/preprocessors/__init__.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 from .extractoutput import ExtractOutputPreprocessor
 from .highlightmagics import HighlightMagicsPreprocessor
 from .latex import LatexPreprocessor
+from .numbered_headings import NumberedHeadingsPreprocessor
 from .regexremove import RegexRemovePreprocessor
 from .svg2pdf import SVG2PDFPreprocessor
 from .tagremove import TagRemovePreprocessor
@@ -30,6 +31,7 @@
     "ExtractOutputPreprocessor",
     "HighlightMagicsPreprocessor",
     "LatexPreprocessor",
+    "NumberedHeadingsPreprocessor",
     "RegexRemovePreprocessor",
     "SVG2PDFPreprocessor",
     "TagRemovePreprocessor",
diff --git a/nbconvert/preprocessors/numbered_headings.py b/nbconvert/preprocessors/numbered_headings.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5a31bb34a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nbconvert/preprocessors/numbered_headings.py
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+"""
+Preprocessor that transforms markdown cells: Insert numbering in from of heading
+"""
+
+from nbconvert.preprocessors.base import Preprocessor
+
+try:  # for Mistune >= 3.0
+    import mistune
+    from mistune.core import BlockState
+    from mistune.renderers.markdown import MarkdownRenderer
+
+    MISTUNE_V3 = True
+except ImportError:  # for Mistune >= 2.0
+    MISTUNE_V3 = False
+
+WRONG_MISTUNE_VERSION_ERROR = "Error: NumberedHeadingsPreprocessor requires mistune >= 3"
+
+
+class NumberedHeadingsPreprocessor(Preprocessor):
+    """Pre-processor that will rewrite markdown headings to include numberings."""
+
+    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        """Init"""
+        super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+        if not MISTUNE_V3:
+            raise Exception(WRONG_MISTUNE_VERSION_ERROR)
+        self.md_parser = mistune.create_markdown(renderer=None)
+        self.md_renderer = MarkdownRenderer()
+        self.current_numbering = [0]
+
+    def format_numbering(self):
+        """Return a string representation of the current numbering"""
+        return ".".join(str(n) for n in self.current_numbering)
+
+    def _inc_current_numbering(self, level):
+        """Increase internal counter keeping track of numberings"""
+        if level > len(self.current_numbering):
+            self.current_numbering = self.current_numbering + [0] * (
+                level - len(self.current_numbering)
+            )
+        elif level < len(self.current_numbering):
+            self.current_numbering = self.current_numbering[:level]
+        self.current_numbering[level - 1] += 1
+
+    def preprocess_cell(self, cell, resources, index):
+        """Rewrites all the headings in the cell if it is markdown"""
+        if cell["cell_type"] != "markdown":
+            return cell, resources
+        try:
+            md_ast = self.md_parser(cell["source"])
+            assert not isinstance(md_ast, str)  # type guard ; str is not returned by ast parser
+            for element in md_ast:
+                if element["type"] == "heading":
+                    level = element["attrs"]["level"]
+                    self._inc_current_numbering(level)
+                    if len(element["children"]) > 0:
+                        child = element["children"][0]
+                        if child["type"] == "text":
+                            child["raw"] = self.format_numbering() + " " + child["raw"]
+            new_source = self.md_renderer(md_ast, BlockState())
+            cell["source"] = new_source
+            return cell, resources
+        except Exception:
+            self.log.warning("Failed processing cell headings", exc_info=True)
+            return cell, resources
diff --git a/tests/preprocessors/test_numbered_headings.py b/tests/preprocessors/test_numbered_headings.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..abe93e4ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/preprocessors/test_numbered_headings.py
@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+"""
+Module with tests for the Numbered Headings preprocessor.
+"""
+
+from nbformat import v4 as nbformat
+
+from nbconvert.preprocessors.numbered_headings import NumberedHeadingsPreprocessor
+
+from .base import PreprocessorTestsBase
+
+MARKDOWN_1 = """
+# Heading 1
+
+## Sub-heading
+
+some content
+"""
+
+MARKDOWN_1_POST = """
+# 1 Heading 1
+
+## 1.1 Sub-heading
+
+some content
+"""
+
+
+MARKDOWN_2 = """
+
+## Second sub-heading
+
+# Another main heading
+
+## Sub-heading
+
+
+some more content
+
+### Third heading
+"""
+
+MARKDOWN_2_POST = """
+
+## 1.2 Second sub-heading
+
+# 2 Another main heading
+
+## 2.1 Sub-heading
+
+some more content
+
+### 2.1.1 Third heading
+"""
+
+MARKDOWN_3 = """
+# HEADING
+
+```
+# this is not a heading
+
+## this neither
+```
+"""
+
+MARKDOWN_3_POST = """
+# 3 HEADING
+
+```
+# this is not a heading
+
+## this neither
+```
+"""
+
+
+class TestNumberedHeadings(PreprocessorTestsBase):
+    def build_notebook(self):
+        cells = [
+            nbformat.new_code_cell(source="$ e $", execution_count=1),
+            nbformat.new_markdown_cell(source=MARKDOWN_1),
+            nbformat.new_code_cell(source="$ e $", execution_count=1),
+            nbformat.new_markdown_cell(source=MARKDOWN_2),
+            nbformat.new_markdown_cell(source=MARKDOWN_3),
+        ]
+
+        return nbformat.new_notebook(cells=cells)
+
+    def build_preprocessor(self):
+        """Make an instance of a preprocessor"""
+        preprocessor = NumberedHeadingsPreprocessor()
+        preprocessor.enabled = True
+        return preprocessor
+
+    def test_constructor(self):
+        """Can a NumberedHeadingsPreprocessor be constructed?"""
+        self.build_preprocessor()
+
+    def test_output(self):
+        """Test the output of the NumberedHeadingsPreprocessor"""
+        nb = self.build_notebook()
+        res = self.build_resources()
+        preprocessor = self.build_preprocessor()
+        nb, res = preprocessor(nb, res)
+        assert nb.cells[1].source.strip() == MARKDOWN_1_POST.strip()
+        assert nb.cells[3].source.strip() == MARKDOWN_2_POST.strip()
+        assert nb.cells[4].source.strip() == MARKDOWN_3_POST.strip()