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

Changing the Type of Page Numbers Used in Headers or Footers

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 14, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

As you already know, Word allows you to make page numbers a part of your headers or footers. After adding the page numbers, you may want to change the type of page numbers used. Word allows you to use several different types of page numbers, as follows:

Type		Selection
Arabic		1, 2, 3...
Arabic with Dashes		- 1 -, - 2 -, - 3 -...
Uppercase Roman		I, II, III...
Lowercase Roman		i, ii, iii...
Uppercase Alphabetic		A, B, C...
Lowercase Alphabetic		a, b, c...

To change the format of your page numbers, follow these steps:

Position the insertion point in the section of your document whose page numbers you wish to change.
Display the Insert tab of the ribbon.
Click the Page Number tool in the Header & Footer group. Word displays some page number options.
Choose Format Page Numbers. Word displays the Page Number Format dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Page Number Format dialog box.

Select the numbering format you wish to use from the Number Format list. The table (above) indicates the available types of formats.
Click on OK.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (9923) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Changing the Type of Page Numbers Used 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. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Extracting File Names from a Path

If you have a full path designation for the location of a file on your hard drive, you may want a way for Excel to pull ...

Discover More

Thoughts and Ideas on Significant Digits in Excel

Ruminations and reflections about significant digits in Excel. Includes examples of how significant digits can affect the ...

Discover More

Printing Row Numbers

Excel displays row numbers on-screen that help you easily see what is in each row. If you want to print these row ...

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2019. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2019 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Applying Standard Headers and Footers to a Document

When you attach a template to a document, it doesn't modify the documents headers or footers. This tip provides three ...

Discover More

Copying Headers and Footers

Need to get headers and footers from one document to another? You can use the steps in this tip to help make quick work ...

Discover More

Word Count for Headers and Footers

Getting a word count for an entire document is rather easy. If you want a word count for a special part of a document ...

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 3 + 3?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

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.