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

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 23, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016

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:

Select the first document.
Display the Insert tab of the ribbon.
Click either the Header or Footer tool in the Header & Footer group. Word displays a list of options.
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.
Use the controls in the Navigation group to display the header or footer you want to copy.
Select all the elements (text and graphics) in the header or footer.
Press Ctrl+C. This copies the header or footer information to the Clipboard.
Select the second document.
Display the Insert tab of the ribbon.
Click either the Header or Footer tool in the Header & Footer group. Word displays a list of options.
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.
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.
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.
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. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Headers and Footers in Subdocuments

If you use master and subdocuments, you may wonder how to control headers and footers in the subdocuments. This tip ...

Discover More

Can't Place Merge Field in Header Of a Catalog Merge Document

Word can perform several different types of mail merge operations, and the type you choose can affect how you are able to ...

Discover More

Hiding Objects

If you are bothered by different objects visible in your worksheet, you'll want to turn them off so they aren't ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! Are you ready to harness the full power of Word 2013 to create professional documents? In this comprehensive guide you'll learn the skills and techniques for efficiently building the documents you need for your professional and your personal life. Check out Word 2013 In Depth today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Keeping Centered Headers and Footers Centered

Headers and footers provide a nice final touch for your printed documents. If you want to expertly align text in those ...

Discover More

Changing Headers and Footers

Editing what is in your page header or footer is fairly easy, and you can use the same editing techniques you already ...

Discover More

Odd & Even Headers and Footers

Adding a running header or footer to a document can be a nice touch. If you want, you can even tell Word to use a ...

Discover More

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

View most recent newsletter.

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}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) 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.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is 7 + 1?

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.