Headers for word documents

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You can get a lot out of headers and footers in Microsoft Word. We show you how to use them in a document.

Headers and footers are simple to use in Microsoft Word, but there is much more to them than catches the eye. Learn how to get more out of headers and footers in Word.

In Microsoft Word, the top margin of a page is called its header, and the bottom margin is called the footer. Headers and footers are especially useful for including information that you want to display on every page, or specific pages. This information could be the page number, the chapter title, or anything else.

The main difference between a header and a footer is where they’re positioned in the document. So, what works for the header also works for the footer. That being said, let’s start with inserting something to the header in Word.

1. Go to the Insert tab.
2. Select Header. This will bring up a dropdown menu with some options in it. These are all presets for the header, provided by Microsoft. For now, select the first option which is Blank. This will take you to the header and also activate the Header & Footer Tools in the Design tab.
   

If you’ve more than a single page in your document, you’ll notice that once you add something in the header, it’s going to appear on top of every page in your document. This makes the header an excellent location to place document info.

A quicker way to access the header is to double-click on the top margin of the page. Double-clicking the bottom margin will bring up the footer.

The Header & Footer Tools tab activates whenever you’re editing the header or the footer of a page. This tab allows you to change options related to the header and also insert components other than plain text to it.

Different First Page

So far, anything that you add to the header will appear on every other page but what if you don’t want the header on your first page to appear on every page in the document? You might want to have other content in the header of other pages or anything else. This can effortlessly be resolved:

1. Double-click on the header.
2. In the Header & Footer Tools tab, in the Options section, check Different First Page.

Once you check this option, the stuff you put in the header of the first page won’t appear on other pages and conversely, if you change the header of any other page it won’t affect the first page.

Different Odd and Even Pages

You probably have seen this one in different documents and even books. As a familiar example, you could have the document title in the odd page header and the heading title on the even pages. You need to check only one option to have different headers on odd & even pages:

1. Double-click on the header.
2. In the Header & Footer Tools tab, check Different Odd & Even Pages.

Now, when you edit the header of an odd page it will apply to all odd pages but it won’t affect the even pages. This also works the other way around.

You can also have different headers for different sections. To do this, you need to create sections in your document first. To create sections:

1. Select where you want to create a section by placing your cursor there.
2. Go to the Layout tab and then click on Breaks.
3. In the bottom half of the menu, you can see the Section Breaks.
4. Select Continous from the menu. This will create a Section Break right where you had placed the cursor.
   

Once you create sections in your document, you can have different headers for each section. You can read our article on creating and removing page breaks to learn more about breaks.

To have different headers for a section:

1. Double-click on the header and go to the Header & Footer Tools tab.
2. Click on Link to Previous and disable it. Keeping this option enabled will use the same header and footer as the previous one for this section.

There you have it! With these, you can have unique headers for any page in your document.

Numbering Pages in Word

Headers and footers in Word provide a display area for page numbers in your document. Adding page numbers to longer documents makes them easier to navigate for readers. To add page numbers:

1. Go to the Insert tab.
2. In the Header & Footer section click Page Number.
3. In the menu, you will have four choices for the location. Choose one and then select the styling you want.
   

Top of Page and Bottom of Page will display the page number in the header and the footer respectively, but you can show the page number in areas other than these two.

Selecting Page Margins will display the page number on the right or left side of the page. What’s more, is that you can show the page number anywhere within the page. To do this:

1. Place your cursor where you want to display the page number.
2. Go to Insert and then select Page Number.
3. From the menu, select Current Position then select a style.
   

This will add the page number right where your cursor was. Keep in mind that this won’t show the page number on every page, it will appear only where the cursor was.

For an in-depth guide on numbering pages in Word documents, read our article on how to number your Word document.

You can make your document more dynamic by utilizing Fields in Microsoft Word. Fields are dynamic components that add auto-updating variables to your document. For example, you could insert a field in your header to display a heading on every page. This way you don’t have to type the heading on top of each page.

Note: Headers and headings are similar in name, but they’re different in nature. A header is the top margin of the document while a heading is a document element that allows you to define different sections and build a table of content for your document.)

Let’s work on the example we mentioned to add the heading to the top of each page. To do this, you’ve to first create some headings for your document.

1. Go to the Home tab.
2. In the Styles section, select a heading. For now, let’s go with Heading 1.
3. Next, type something in your heading so that it’s not blank.
   

Once you’ve your headings set out, it’s time to display their names in the header.

1. Double-click the header and then go to the Header & Footer Tools tab.
2. Click on Quick Parts and then select Field… . Here you can see the various fields you can add to the header.
3. From the Categories menu, select Links and References.
4. In the Field names select StyleRef.
5. Finally, in the Style name box, select Heading 1.
6. Check the additional options that you might want in Field options and once you’re done, click OK.
   

Now you can see the headings displayed in the header of the page. It will show the same heading until a new heading is used on a page.

There are many fields that you can use in your document. Fields aren’t exclusive to the header or the footer and you can use them anywhere else in your document as well. You can access fields from the Insert tab:

1. Go to the Insert tab.
2. On the right side, click Quick Parts and then select Fields.
   

Now that you’ve read through all these, you can achieve a lot more from the top and bottom margins of your document. However, this is just one of the many things you can do to improve your document.

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Introduction

The header is a section of the document that appears in the top margin, while the footer is a section of the document that appears in the bottom margin. Headers and footers generally contain additional information such as page numbers, dates, an author’s name, and footnotes, which can help keep longer documents organized and make them easier to read. Text entered in the header or footer will appear on each page of the document.

Optional: Download our practice document.

Watch the video below to learn more about headers and footers in Word.

To create a header or footer:

In our example, we want to display the author’s name at the top of each page, so we’ll place it in the header.

1. Double-click anywhere on the top or bottom margin of your document. In our example, we’ll double-click the top margin.

   

2. The header or footer will open, and a Design tab will appear on the right side of the Ribbon. The insertion point will appear in the header or footer.

   
3. Type the desired information into the header or footer. In our example, we’ll type the author’s name and the date.

   

4. When you’re finished, click Close Header and Footer. Alternatively, you can press the Esc key.

   

5. The header or footer text will appear.

   

To insert a preset header or footer:

Word has a variety of preset headers and footers you can use to enhance your document’s design and layout. In our example, we’ll add a preset header to our document.

1. Select the Insert tab, then click the Header or Footer command. In our example, we’ll click the Header command.

   

2. In the menu that appears, select the desired preset header or footer.

   

3. The header or footer will appear. Many preset headers and footers contain text placeholders called Content Control fields. These fields are good for adding information like the document title, author’s name, date, and page number.

   

4. To edit a Content Control field, click it and type the desired information.

   

5. When you’re finished, click Close Header and Footer. Alternatively, you can press the Esc key.

   

If you want to delete a Content Control field, right-click it and select Remove Content Control from the menu that appears.

Editing headers and footers

After you close the header or footer, it will still be visible, but it will be locked. Simply double-click a header or footer to unlock it, which will allow you to edit it.

Design tab options

When your document’s header and footer are unlocked, the Design tab will appear on the right side of the Ribbon, giving you various editing options:

• Hide the first-page header and footer: For some documents, you may not want the first page to show the header and footer, like if you have a cover page and want to start the page numbering on the second page. If you want to hide the first-page header and footer, check the box next to Different First Page.

  

• Remove the header or footer: If you want to remove all information contained in the header, click the Header command and select Remove Header from the menu that appears. Similarly, you can remove a footer using the Footer command.

  

• Page Number: You can automatically number each page with the Page Number command. Read our Page Numbers lesson to learn more.

  

• Additional options: With the commands available in the Insert group, you can add the date and time, document info, pictures, and more to your header or footer.

  

To insert the date or time into a header or footer:

Sometimes it’s helpful to include the date or time in the header or footer. For example, you may want your document to show the date when it was created.

On the other hand, you may want to show the date when it was printed, which you can do by setting it to update automatically. This is useful if you frequently update and print a document because you’ll always be able to tell which version is the most recent.

1. Double-click anywhere on the header or footer to unlock it. Place the insertion point where you want the date or time to appear. In our example, we’ll place the insertion point on the line below the author’s name.

   

2. The Design tab will appear. Click the Date & Time command.

   

3. The Date and Time dialog box will appear. Select the desired date or time format.
4. Check the box next to Update Automatically if you want the date to change every time you open the document. If you don’t want the date to change, leave this option unchecked.
5. Click OK.

   

6. The date will appear in the header.

   

Challenge!

1. Open our practice document. If you’ve already downloaded our practice document in order to follow along with the lesson, be sure to download a fresh copy by clicking the link in this step.
2. Open the header.
3. Choose Align Right on the Home tab and type your name.
4. Below your name, use the Date & Time command on the Design tab and insert the date. You can use whichever format you like.
5. In the footer section, insert the preset footer Grid. If your version of Word doesn’t have a Grid preset, you can choose any available preset.
6. Close the header and footer.
7. When you’re finished, your page should look something like this:

   

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Chapter Headers in Microsoft Word

Adding chapter headers to a Microsoft Word document requires three things:

1. Using a Heading style for your chapter headings
2. Adding section breaks between chapters
3. Generating the chapter headers

This might seem complex, but each step is simple. Read on to find out more.

Step One: Applying Heading Styles

The Heading styles in Word are used for headings and subheadings. Chapter titles are the main headings in a document, so they would usually be formatted with Heading 1. Whichever style you use, though, to prepare for applying chapter headers you should:

• Select a style and customize it as required
• Go through your work applying the chosen style to all chapter headings

Make sure to only use this style for chapter titles (you can use the other Heading styles for subheadings within chapters). This will let Microsoft Word tell the chapter titles apart from other text.

Step Two: Adding Section Breaks

Next, we need to add section breaks between chapters. Usually, you will want each chapter to start on a new page. You can do this throughout your document as follows:

• Find the first chapter title
• Place the cursor before the heading
• Go to Layout > Page Setup on the main ribbon
• Click Breaks and select Next Page from the dropdown menu
• Repeat for each chapter in the document

Doing this will tell Microsoft Word where each chapter starts and ends.

Step Three: Creating Chapter Headers

All we need to do now is tell Microsoft Word what goes in each header. To do this, we first need to make sure that the headers in each section are separated from one another. To do this:

• Go to the first chapter in your document
• Open the header by going to Insert > Header & Footer > Header > Edit Header on the ribbon
• With the header selected, go to Design > Navigation
• Deselect Link to Previous
• Repeat for each section of the document

And finally, to create the chapter headers themselves, all you need to do is:

• Open the header in the first chapter
• Go to References > Captions > Cross-reference
• Select Heading from the menu as your reference type
• Pick the relevant chapter title and click Insert
• Repeat for each chapter of your document

This will insert the text formatted with the selected Heading style at the top of each page in each section. You can also apply the same header throughout multiple sections by leaving the Link to Previous option selected for each section after the first.

If you later update your chapter titles, don’t forget to update your chapter headers! Getting your work proofread is a great way of making sure you don’t miss issues like this, so get in touch today.