Word page numbers not working

Page numbering is essential for different types of documents like a thesis, research papers, Lab sheets, books, etc. You have to know the way of page numbering to do all those stuff accurately. The insertion of page numbering both in the header and footer described other problematic issues regarding page numbering. Read the full article on How to fix page numbers in Word and learn all the staff.

How to insert page number in Word from specific page

The page number can be used to number each page on your document automatically. They come in a wide range of number formats and can even be customized to meet your needs. Page numbers are usually placed in your document’s header and footer sections.

Step 1:

Navigate the insert tab then click the page number button. You will find a few different options designed to help you with different types of documents.

Step 2:

To add page numbers to an existing header, use “Top of the page” for footer use “Bottom of the page” for a specific position in a document use the “current position” command. Otherwise, choose one of the three options to create word page numbers from scratch. For example, we are choosing here the “Top of the page” option.

Step 3:

No matter what you select word gives you several different numbering styles to choose from. All you have to do is click the one you want. It will be added to your document.

However, there may have separate sections in your documents where you would like to start your numbering. There is a way to do this. You can even apply different styles to each section. All you have to do is insert a section break first. You can read a similar article on how to remove headings in Word.

In this example, let’s say we want to restart numbering on page1 on page 27.

Step 1:

At first, you have to place your cursor at the beginning of the section and then go to the layout tab.

Step 2:

Click the breaks button. You will see a few different types of section breaks. But the one we want is the “Next page.” Now we can adjust our page numbering by following steps.

Step 3:

At first double click the header of the footer to unlock it.

Step 4:

Then click the page number command and choose format page numbers from the menu. A dialogue box will appear where you can change your number format and add chapter numbers to your page.

Step 5:

However, to restart your numbering, all you have to do is select the field that says start at. By default, Word will set it to restart at 1. But you can enter any number here. When it is done, click the OK button. You will see the changes in your documents.

Page numbers in Word not working

One of the reasons that page number does not work is -users don’t insert a page field. You have to insert a PAGE field by any of the steps written below,

• Select the insertion point in the header or footer and press the ALT+SHIFT+P buttons together. And complete the requirements.
• With the insertion point in the footer or header, select Page Number dropdown then click on the current position. Choose the Plain Number option.
• Inserts a footer building block from the gallery, which will be overwritten with the previous footer.

Resetting Word Page Numbers with Section Breaks

Sometimes it may occur that you added a page number manually. But because of different sections in the header and footer, page numbers may appear different and not continuous. So in this situation, what can you do?

Step 1:

Click the Insert tab in the top menu bar then click on the “Page Number” dropdown.

Step 2:

Click on “Format Page Number.” A dialogue box will appear. Click on the “Continue with previous” section. Click the “OK” button.

Now your problem is solved. Page number will continue according to a section break.

page numbers in footer not sequential

At first, let’s talk about how to set page numbering in the footer. To do that-

• Click on the Insert tab on the menu bar.
• Then click on “Page number.”
• Select “Bottom of page” then choose a numbering style.

Sometimes you may want to move some pages to another document. In that situation, a messed up situation emerges. You will find footer page numbering is not sequential. So what is the solution?

1. As the previous click on the Insert tab from the menu bar.
2. Click on “Page Number” dropdown. Select “Format Page Numbers.” A dialogue box will appear.
3. Choose the “Continue from previous section” radio button. Keep on doing that on each section page.
4. You will find that your whole document footer page number is sequential.

Solutions regarding page numbering are close to each other. We hope this article may help you design and use page numbering in your official documents. Thanks for reading.

My organization is transitioning to Office 2016. I decided to try it with just two Windows 10 workstations initially, to detect any issues before a full transition. It was a good thing I did, because an exasperating bug popped up right away. I’ve exhaustively
tried to troubleshoot it on the web, and there is no fix — just a workaround, and that doesn’t work either.

The problem is with page numbering, and I know that this is not as isolated issue — this is a genuine bug that multiple parties have experienced and that Microsoft simply will not acknowledge unless you come up with $500. (Their «contact support»
feature in Word is a joke — all you ever get is a message saying «an error occurred — try again later.»)

To eliminate the obvious:

YES, I’ve tried deleting Built-in Building Blocks.dotx file from the personal profile and having Word re-create it.

NO, there are no add-ins to Word.

The full extent of Microsoft acknowledgement of this problem is
here.  Can anyone actually fix this bug?

Is this article up to date?

• The page count begins with the very first page of your ETDR.
• Title page up to Table of Contents: Page numbering begins with «i» in lowercase Roman numerals (i, ii, iii) and is NOT displayed.
• Table of Contents page up to Chapter 1: Lowercase Roman numerals continue counting and ARE displayed.
• Starting at Chapter 1: Page numbering begins with “1” and is displayed in Arabic numbers (1, 2, 3) through the rest of the document.
• Section breaks are used to control page numbering. With Word Show/Hide turned on, they look like this: ======Section Break (Next Page)======

This system of page counting and displaying page numbers is built into the template and shouldn’t require any attention. As you work with your document, inadvertently deleting or modifying page-numbering components can cause some issues.

If page numbers do not display properly, select the solution you need and follow the steps below.

• Fix page numbers starting over at «1» in body of document
• Fix page numbers from beginning to Chapter 1

Fix page numbers starting over at “1” in body of document

If you see page numbers reverting back to “1” in the body of your document, it’s likely this is occurring at a section break. Follow these steps to correct the problem:

1. Click anywhere on the page where the numbering is starting over at “1.” If you’re not in the Header and Footer view, select the Insert tab, click Footer and click Edit Footer.
2. Put the cursor in the footer; DO NOT select the page number. Click Page Number and then Format Page Numbers.
3. In the Format window, click Continue from previous section and then click OK.

Repeat these steps at each occurrence of a section break or when page numbers are reverting back to “1”.

Fix page numbers from beginning to Chapter 1

Follow these A, B, C, and D steps in order. Or, use the ETDR Request form to get help from an ETDR consultant (requires eID/password).

Step A. Check for required section breaks (at Table of Contents, Chapter 1).

1. Open your document in Word. Click the Show/Hide button (it looks like a black Paragraph symbol) to turn on hidden formatting symbols.
2. Just before the Table of Contents page, check for a section break. If a section break is present, skip to Step 4.
3. If the Section Break is missing, place your cursor just in front of the “T” in “Table”. Click the Page Layout tab. In the Paragraph section, select Breaks. Under Section Breaks, select Next Page.
4. Just before the start of Chapter 1, check for a section break. If the section break is present, skip to Step B below.
5. If the section break is missing, place your cursor just after «Chapter 1 — » and in front of the first word in the title. Click the Page Layout tab. In the Paragraph section, select Breaks. Under Section Breaks, select Next Page.

Step B. Fix page numbers from title page to before Table of Contents.

1. Place the cursor anywhere on the title page.
2. On the Insert tab, select Footer and click on Edit Footer.
3. If you see a page number in the footer (at the bottom of page), select the number and press the Delete key.
4. With the cursor in the footer, click Page Number and then Format Page Numbers.
5. In the Page Number Format window, set the Number format to i,ii,iii,… Under Page numbering, select Start at and set the number to “i.” Click OK.

Step C. Fix page numbers from Table of Contents to before Chapter 1.

1. Scroll to the first page of your Table of Contents. If you’re not in the Header and Footer view, select the Insert tab, click Footer and click Edit Footer.
2. If “Same as Previous” or “Link to Previous” is visible just above the footer, remove it by clicking Link to Previous in the Design tab’s Navigation section.
3. Make sure the Design tab is still selected. With the cursor in the footer, click Page Number and then Format Page Numbers.
4. In the Page Number Format window, set the Number format to i,ii,iii,… Under Page numbering, select Continue from previous section. Click OK.
5. If no page number is displayed, insert it: Click Page Number, then Bottom of Page, then Plain Number 2 (centered) or Plain Number 3 (right-justified).

Step D. Fix page numbers from Chapter 1 on.

1. Scroll to the first page of Chapter 1. If you’re not in the Header and Footer view, select the Insert tab, click Footer and click Edit Footer.
2. If “Same as Previous” or “Link to Previous” is visible just above the footer, remove it by clicking Link to Previous in the Design tab’s Navigation section.
3. With the cursor in the footer, click Page Number and then Format Page Numbers.
4. In the Page Number Format window, set the Number format to 1,2,3,… Under Page numbering, select Start at and set the number to “1”. Click OK.
5. If no page number is displayed, insert it: Click Page Number, then Bottom of Page, then Plain Number 2 (centered) or Plain Number 3 (right-justified).
6. When you’re all done, on the Design tab, click Close Header and Footer.