Using Chapter Numbers with Page Numbers

Word provides many different ways you can set up and use page numbers in your documents. Typically, page numbers are placed in either your headers or footers so that they appear on each page of the document. In other WordTips issues you learn how to specify the starting page number to be used within a document. Word also allows you to automatically include a "chapter number" as part of your page numbers.

Before you instruct Word to automatically include chapter numbers with page numbers, you need to make sure that you are using a named style for your chapter headings. For instance, you might specify the Heading 1 style to be used for chapters. Thus, anytime a Heading 1 style is used in your document, it signifies the start of a new chapter.

In addition, your document must be using a multilevel list that is associated with the heading styles you are using. (This is the only way that Word can automatically keep track of what your chapter numbers are.) You can easily set up the multilevel list by displaying the Home tab of the ribbon and clicking the Multilevel List tool in the Paragraph group. Just make sure you choose one of the lists in which you see the word "Heading." These are the lists that are tied to the heading levels.

With these two elements in place, you are ready to add chapter numbers to your page numbers. Follow these steps:

1. Display the Insert tab of the ribbon.
2. Click Page Number, in the Header & Footer group, and then choose Format Page Number. Word displays the Page Number Format dialog box. (See Figure 1.)



Figure 1. The Page Number Format dialog box.

3. Make sure the Include Chapter Number check box is selected.
4. Use the Chapter Starts with Style drop-down list to specify the style you are using to indicate the beginning of each chapter. As already described, this will be a style such as Heading 1.
5. Use the Use Separator drop-down list to specify a character to use between the chapter number and the page number.
6. Click on OK. If you get an error message at this point, it means that you didn't specify a multilevel list to be used with the headings in your document. (See the info on this earlier in this tip.)
7. Still in the Header & Footer group, click either Header or Footer, depending on where you want your page number to appear.
8. From the available options, click an option that represents how you want your page number to appear.

That's it. Your page number, with a chapter number included, is added to your document.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (8554) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Using Chapter Numbers with Page Numbers.