Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021. 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: Adding Page Numbers in Headers or Footers.

Adding Page Numbers in Headers or Footers

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 7, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021


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If you already have headers and footers defined for your document, you can add a page number by simply editing the header or footer and then using one of the choices available by choosing the Insert tab of the ribbon, clicking the Page Number tool, and then choosing Current Position. The page number you choose is inserted at the location of your insertion point.

If the standard, run-of-the-mill page number does not fit your discriminating tastes, you may want to add page numbers to your headers or footers yourself. These types of page numbers can be rather fancy, if you like. For instance, you may want a page number to say, "Page 37" (special formatting with the word Page before the actual page number). To add page numbers in your headers and footers, follow these steps:

  1. Position the insertion point in the section of your document that you want to include page numbers.
  2. Open the header or footer area of the page you are viewing. You can do this by double-clicking within the header or footer areas. You can also display the Insert tab of the ribbon, click the Header or Footer tools (as desired), and then choose Edit Header or Edit Footer (as appropriate).
  3. In the header or footer, type the word Page followed by a space.
  4. Click on the Page Number tool and then click Current Position. From the resulting options, select the page number format that most closely corresponds to what you want to see. (I normally just choose Plain Number since I'm going to do my own formatting anyway.)
  5. Format your header or footer text as you would format normal text in your document.
  6. Click on Close Header and Footer.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (8379) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Adding Page Numbers in Headers or 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. ...

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Comments

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What is 2 + 8?

2023-02-28 00:41:43

Al

   Print to pdf to save on paper, then only print on paper if the printout is right.


2023-02-28 00:26:57

Tomek

@ Jim Guigli
@ TW

Unluckily, turning on Reader View in Firefox removes other parts of web page, including Comments and ability to add comments. I found that printing from Firefox does not cause the adds to cover the tips from Tips.net [Firefox 110.0 (64-bit) in Win10)]. How the adds show up in the printout depends on some printer settings and also on the particular printer (including printing to PDF) and paper size.

There is one setting in the Firefox print dialog: Format - Original or Simplified. The latter does to printout what Reader View does to page display.

Contrary to Firefox, both Chrome and Edge print page with some of the Tip text hidden by the ads or white rectangles where ads would be. In Chrome, I couldn't find the equivalent to Reader View, but I use Chrome only occasionally.


2023-02-16 00:57:18

Erica

Thank you so much! I'm writing an essay and was struggling to insert the page into a three-column set up for the header, this was so helpful.


2023-01-11 20:33:18

TW

@ Jim Guigli

I use the Firefox browser most of the time and it has a toggle for reader view that removes the ads for printing. It's in the top address bar or hit the F9 key to toggle it. The Chrome browser hides this feature and it has to be turned on. You can find instructions with a Google search. Hope this helps!


2023-01-07 08:43:48

Jim Guigli

A problem that has appeared recently is that Google ads block the text of your Tips when I try to print a copy, This never happened in the past. There is no fix. Try to remove an ad and it is replaced by another or two. I have reported this to Google many times. They don't care. Someone should care because I note the advertiser and will never buy from them.


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