Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Copying Headers and Footers.

Copying Headers and Footers

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated December 10, 2016)

4

If you have developed two documents that are closely related (perhaps they are even different versions of the same information), you may want to copy headers or footers from one document to the other. This is easy to do using standard editing techniques:

  1. Select the first document.
  2. Display the Insert tab of the ribbon.
  3. Click either the Header or Footer tool in the Header & Footer group. Word displays a list of options.
  4. Click either Edit Header or Edit Footer, depending on which you want to do. Word switches to Print Layout view (if necessary) and positions the insertion point within the header or footer. The design tab of the ribbon is also displayed.
  5. Use the controls in the Navigation group to display the header or footer you want to copy.
  6. Select all the elements (text and graphics) in the header or footer.
  7. Press Ctrl+C. This copies the header or footer information to the Clipboard.
  8. Select the second document.
  9. Display the Insert tab of the ribbon.
  10. Click either the Header or Footer tool in the Header & Footer group. Word displays a list of options.
  11. Click either Edit Header or Edit Footer, depending on which you want to do. Word switches to Print Layout view (if necessary) and positions the insertion point within the header or footer. The design tab of the ribbon is also displayed.
  12. Use the controls in the Navigation group to display the header or footer where you want to paste your header or footer that you copied in step 7.
  13. Position the insertion point in the header or footer, then press Ctrl+V. The information in the Clipboard will be inserted in the header or footer.
  14. Close the header or footer area for each of your documents. (Click the Close button at the right of the Design tab of the ribbon.)

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (7127) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Copying Headers and Footers.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Throwing Out the Lowest Score

Want to add up a bunch of scores, without including the lowest one in the bunch? You can make a small change to your ...

Discover More

Copying Paragraph Formatting with the Mouse

When you get one paragraph formatted just the way you want, you might want to copy that formatting so it can be applied ...

Discover More

Sorting Dates by Month

Sorting by dates is easy, and you end up with a list that is in chronological order. However, things become a bit more ...

Discover More

Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2013. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word 2013 Step by Step today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Deleting All Headers and Footers

Headers and footers add a finishing touch to documents, but sometimes they can be bothersome. You may need to remove them ...

Discover More

Deleting a Header or Footer

When working with existing documents, you may need to delete a header or footer previously created. Here's how you can do ...

Discover More

Changing the Type of Page Numbers Used in Headers or Footers

Like to have your page numbers displayed using different types of numbers? Here's how you can choose from the several ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 4 + 8?

2019-10-29 14:13:46

allen why

Page numbers made this really difficult, Allen you weren't very helpful

2018-05-25 09:17:52

Andrew

I usually do this in a converse way: I put the main text in a copy of the original document with the headers and footers already in place.

Deborah: try making the page formatting of the new document (especially the margins) the same as the old document before pasting, and using the settings to keep the original text formatting when pasting.

Andy

2018-05-24 12:40:33

Deborah

Tried this, everything shifts around when I paste.

2018-01-05 10:19:15

Mark Meyer

Worked exactly as described. Thanks for posting this tip site. I almost bought a $20.00 book just for this information.

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR AUTHORS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2020 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.