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Select Insert > Page Number, and then choose the location and style you want.
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If you don’t want a page number to appear on the first page, select Different First Page.
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If you want numbering to start with 1 on the second page, go to Page Number > Format Page Numbers, and set Start at to 0.
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When you’re done, select Close Header and Footer or press Esc.
Tip: To get back to a header or footer to make changes, double-click in the header or footer area.
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On the Insert tab, click the Page Number icon, and then click Page Number.
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Select a location, and then pick an alignment style. Word automatically numbers every page, except designated title pages.
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To change the numbering style, select Format and then choose the formatting you want to use.
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Select OK twice to close both dialog boxes.
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Adding page numbers in Microsoft Word is easy! Whether you’re writing a 10-page essay or a thesis paper, there are a variety of ways to customize the page numbers. Use the Insert tab to quickly add page numbers. From there, you can change the formatting and numbering options. This wikiHow guide will show you how to add page numbers to your Microsoft Word document on Windows and macOS, as well as in the Word mobile app on your Android, iPhone, or iPad.
Things You Should Know
- On desktop or mobile, go to the Insert tab, then select «Page Number» to add page numbers.
- Double-click the page number to make changes to the font, color, or style.
- Double-click the header or footer, then go to Page Number > Format Page Numbers for additional options.
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Click Insert. This is in the tab menu bar at the top of Word. Alternatively, double-click the top or bottom of the page to open the Header or Footer editing menu.
- Don’t forget to save your work as you go!
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Click Page Number. This opens a pop-up menu for choosing where to place the page numbers.[1]
- In the Insert menu, Page Number is near the center.
- In the Header & Footer design tab, Page Number is on the left.
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Choose a page number position. This can be in the header or footer, and located left, center, or right.
- You can also toggle the option to include the page count in the page numbering (e.g. 1 of 3).
- Selecting a page number position will open the “Header & Footer” tab.
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Double-click a page number. This will select it and show a pop-up menu with options for changing the font, color, and style. This change will edit every page number automatically.
- You could even cross out the page numbers if that’s your style.
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Start numbering on the second page. If you want the first page to have no numbering, and start at 1 on the second page, follow these steps:
- Double-click the header or footer to open the Header & Footer design tab.
- Check the “Different First Page” checkbox.
- Click Page Number then Format Page Numbers.
- Select “Start at” and change it to 0.
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Restart page numbers by using page breaks. If you want to start a new numbering later in the document, you’ll need to use a page break.
- Place your cursor at the beginning of the page you want to restart the numbering on.
- Go to the Layout tab, then click Breaks.
- Select Next Page in the Breaks options menu.
- Double-click the header or footer in the second section. This will open the Header & Footer design tab.
- Click Page Number then Format Page Numbers.
- Select the radio button labeled «Start At,» then select «1» to restart the page count at 1.
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Use «Format Page Numbers» for additional changes. This can be located by going to Insert > Page Number > Format Page Numbers. You can change:
- The number format. You can change this to Roman numerals, letters, or another style.
- The chapter number.
- The starting number.
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Click Close Header and Footer. This will return you to editing the body of the document. Alternatively, press Esc to close the header and footer editor.
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Open your Word document on your Android, iPhone, or iPad. It’s easy to use Word on your phone or tablet to insert page numbers into your document.
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Tap the more button. While in Edit mode in the Word mobile app, tap the more button (three horizontal dots).
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Tap Home. Then, select Insert to switch to the Insert menu.
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Choose Page Numbers. Then, select the placement location for the numbers.
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Format the page number. After selecting the placement, double-click the page number. Then, tap the text edit button (the icon with the letter A and a pen). You can change the font, size, color, and more!
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Go to Headers and Footers. This is in the Insert menu. You can set a different first page, change how odd and even pages look, or remove the page numbers entirely.
- When working in Online mode, any changes made in the app will appear on your desktop version of Word.
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Question
In the insert box, the page number icon is grayed out and not available for use. How do I activate it?
Kyle Smith is a wikiHow Technology Writer, learning and sharing information about the latest technology. He has presented his research at multiple engineering conferences and is the writer and editor of hundreds of online electronics repair guides. Kyle received a BS in Industrial Engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.
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Expert Answer
The page numbering feature isn’t available in certain layouts. Go to View and select Print Layout. If this doesn’t resolve the issue, try restarting and/or updating Microsoft Word.
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If you plan on creating a complex header or footer (like your name, or a title), try and add the page numbers first. They will be much easier to work with.
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1. Click Insert.
2. Click Page Number.
3. Select a position.
4. Choose a style.
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How to Add Page Numbers in Word
Create page numbers in Word 2013, 2016, 2019 and Microsoft 365
Updated on October 16, 2020
What to Know
- Go to the Insert tab > Page Number > Page Number > Top of Page (Header) or Bottom of Page (Footer).
- Under Alignment, select Left, Right, or Center > OK.
- To format the page numbering, click Header or Footer > Format > choose format. Double-click anywhere in the document.
This article explains how to add pages numbers to documents in Word 2019, 2016, 2013, and Word for Microsoft 365.
If your Microsoft Word document is long (or book-length), you might want to add page numbers to the header or footer. When you print a document, the headers and footers can be printed as well.
The steps for adding pages numbers is basically the same for Word 2019, 2016, 2013, and Word for Microsoft 365.
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Place your cursor at the first page of your document or where you want page numbers to begin.
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Select the Insert tab.
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Select Page Number in the Header & Footer group.
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Select Page Number again from a drop-down menu.
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Under Position, select Top of Page (Header) or Bottom of Page (Footer) to indicate where to place the numbers on the page.
Under Alignment, select Left, Right, or Center.
Select OK to save the selections and exit the menu.
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Select Header or Footer on the toolbar to format the page numbering.
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Select a format from the menu options.
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Double-click anywhere in the document to hide the header and footer areas.
Customize Headers and Footers
You can also customize the headers and footers in all versions of Microsoft Word. You do that from the same area where you added page numbers.
To begin, select Header or Footer to see your options.
In recent editions of Word, you can also get additional header and footer styles online from Office.com.
Thanks for letting us know!
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Contents
- 1 How to Add Page Numbers in Word
- 2 How to Format Page Numbers in Word
- 3 How to Start Page Numbers over in Word (Restart Numbering)
- 4 How to Skip the First Page Number in Word
- 5 How to Change Types of Page Numbering in Word
- 6 How to Leave the Header and Footer or Design Bar
- 7 Extra: How to Add Line Numbers in Word
- 8 Extra: How to Add a Page Border in Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word page numbering
Page numbers in Word are a valuable tool to help you order pages after printing or quickly reference information for other readers. Today, we’re going to show you how to add page numbers in Word, format them, and skip the first page number if necessary.
Inserting page numbers in Word is easy, modifying them not so much
Though inserting page numbers in Word in the base form is quite easy, it gets more complex once you start to modify them to suit your exact needs. Microsoft Word has a variety of styles, placement, and formatting choices that can make things feel a little overwhelming.
Not to worry, though – we’ll be breaking down all the major options so you can quickly get your page numbering in Word looking exactly how you want. Let’s get started:
If you’re wondering how to insert page numbers in Word, the first place you might think to look is the “Page Number” tool. Thankfully, you’d be right. This makes the entire process very simple:
- Open the “Insert” tab of the ribbon and press “Page Number > Bottom of Page > Plan Number 2”
Naturally, you can choose a different style for the page number if you like, such as the accent bar. You can also choose to have the number at the top of the page if you wish.
How to Format Page Numbers in Word
After inserting page numbers in Word, you may want to format them to match the styling of the rest of your document. You can quickly change aspects such as font, text color, size, center/right/left justification, and more. Here’s how:
- Double-click your page number and adjust the formatting options in the fly-out
You should already be familiar with the options here – they’re the same as they are for any other text. Once you’ve finished modifying the number, you can double-click anywhere that’s not in the footer to return to your document.
How to Start Page Numbers over in Word (Restart Numbering)
If you want your page numbers restart at a certain point, you need to make use of Word’s section breaks feature. This is a useful tool in many situations, so it’s worth familiarizing yourself with:
- Place your cursor at the start of the page you want to restart page numbers on and insert a “Next Page” break
To do so, open the “Layout” tab of your ribbon, click on “Breaks” below it, then press “Next Page” under the “Section Breaks” heading.
- Double-click the page number, then press “Page Number > Format Page Numbers…” in the ribbon
To clarify, you should double-click the page number of the page you’re planning to restart the page numbers on.
- Tick “Start at” under the page numbering heading select “1”, and press “OK”
How to Skip the First Page Number in Word
In many cases when adding page numbers in Word, you’ll want to skip the first page number. This happens most commonly when you have a cover page or title page. Here’s how to make page numbers start on page 2:
- Double-click the first page number and tick “Different First Page” in the ribbon
The “Different First Page” option can be found in the “Header & Footer” section of the ribbon, which should automatically appear once you double-click your page number.
- Delete the first page number
Due to the “Different First Page” option, deleting the first page number now won’t remove page numbers from the rest of your document.
How to Change Types of Page Numbering in Word
As well as the style, position and starting position of page numbers, you can change the type of page number. For example, whether the numbers take the form of numbers, letters, or Roman numerals, and whether they use dots or dashes:
- Double-click your number and press “Page Number > Format Page Numbers…” in the ribbon
- Press the dropdown arrow next to “Number format”, choose an option, and press “OK”
The changes will automatically apply to all of the page numbers in your Word document.
How to Leave the Header and Footer or Design Bar
If you find yourself stuck in the Header and Footer or design bar with no way to edit the rest of your document, you can use the following trick:
Press the “Esc” button on your keyboard
This will instantly exit the header and footer bar and bring you back to your normal document view.
As well as page numbers, you can add individual line numbers to your document so that you can reference part of it even more easily. Just follow our linked tutorial to do so.
While you’re at it, you can add a page border to your Word document to ensure a clear margin for annotations once it has been printed. You can read our dedicated guide here to learn how to do so.
This tutorial shows how to add page numbers in Microsoft Word. Then, we will format page numbers, remove page numbers from the first page, and start the second page with page number 1.
Table of Contents
- How to add page numbers
- How to format page numbers
- How to remove the page number from the first page
- How to start the second page with page number 1
Do you want to start your page numbers on a specific page? Please see “How to Start Page Numbers on a Specific Page in Microsoft Word (PC & Mac).”
This tutorial is available as a YouTube video showing all the steps in real time.
Watch more than 200 other writing-related software tutorials on my YouTube channel.
The images below are from Word for Microsoft 365. These steps will also work in Word 2021, Word 2019, Word 2016, Word 2013, and Word 2010. However, your interface may look slightly different in those older versions of the software.
Are you on a Mac? Please see “How to Add Page Numbers in Word for Mac.”
Important Note: Page numbers added to the top of the page or the bottom of the page will be inserted into the header or footer. The page numbers will replace any existing text placed in the same location within the header or footer. Therefore, you should add page numbers before adding other elements to the header or footer.
- Select the Insert tab in the ribbon.
- Select the Page Number button in the Header & Footer group.
- Select a location to insert the page numbers from the drop-down menu:
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- Top of Page (in the header)
- Bottom of Page (in the footer)
- Page Margins
- Current Position
The Current Position option is the current location of your cursor in the header, footer, or body of the text. If the current position is in the body of the text, the page number will only appear on the current page. It won’t appear in the same location on other pages.
- Select additional location and style options from the submenu. (The options will depend on the selection made in step 3.)
Your page numbers should appear immediately.
How to Format Page Numbers in Microsoft Word
This section shows how to change the number format, include chapter numbers, and start on a specific page.
- Select the Insert tab in the ribbon (see figure 1).
- Select the Page Number button in the Header & Footer group (see figure 2).
- Select Format Page Numbers from the drop-down menu.
- Select the options you want from the Page Number Format dialog box.
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- Number format (e.g., numerals, letters, Roman numerals)
- Include chapter number (This option only works if you already established heading numbers.)
- Continue from previous section (When this option is selected, your sections will be number continuously. If you do not want the page numbers to continue from the previous section, select Start at.)
- Start at (This option will default to page 1. However, if you enter another number, such as 5, the page number 5 will appear on the first page of the document or first page of the section.)
- Select the OK button.
Your page number formatting should be applied immediately.
How to Remove the Page Number from the First Page in Microsoft Word
You may want to remove the page number from the first page because it is a title page or a cover page.
- Select the Insert tab in the ribbon (see figure 1).
- Select the Header or Footer button in the Header & Footer group. (Choose the location where your page numbers are located.)
- Select Edit Header or Edit Footer from the drop-down menu.
- Select Different First Page in the Options group in the Header & Footer tab.
Pro Tip: The Header & Footer tab only appears while you are working in headers or footers.
The page number on the first page should disappear. If the page number does not disappear, select it and press the Delete key to remove it manually.
How to Start the Second Page with Page Number 1 in Microsoft Word
After removing the page number from the first page, as shown in the previous section, you can force the second page to start with page number 1.
- Select the Page Number button in the Header & Footer group.
- Select Format Page Numbers from the drop-down menu (see figure 5).
- Enter the number 0 into the Start at menu in the Page Number Format dialog box.
- Select the OK button (see figure 7).
The page number on the second page should be changed to number 1.
- Select the Close Header and Footer button.
Related Resources
How to Adjust Page Margins in Microsoft Word
How to Adjust Line Spacing in Microsoft Word
How to Insert Page Breaks in Microsoft Word
How to Use the Editor in Word for Microsoft 365 (Spelling & Grammar Check)
Updated April 05, 2023