Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. 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: Making Sure a Document Always Has an Even Number of Pages.

Making Sure a Document Always Has an Even Number of Pages

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 25, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365


Zelda would like to be able to automatically add a blank page at the end of a Word document when that document contains an odd number of pages. She would like this to happen because she produces many separate documents that are combined in Adobe and created as PDFs for double-sided printing.

There are two things you can try to get the desired extra page. The first (and perhaps the easiest) is to add a field code to the end of your document that adds the extra page, but only if there are an odd number of pages in the document. Here's the field code:

{ IF { =MOD({ PAGE \* ARABIC}, 2)} = 0 "" "<page break>" }

This should be placed immediately after the last paragraph at the very end of the document. You create the field braces by using Ctrl+F9, and where you see <page break> you should actually add a page break by pressing Ctrl+Enter. The field only adds the page break if the page on which the field occurs is an odd page number. This approach (using the field) is very similar to the approach discussed on this page at the Word MVP site:

http://wordmvp.com/FAQs/TblsFldsFms/InsEvnPgEndChap.htm

The other approach is to use a macro to add the extra page. This doesn't have to be a fancy macro; something as simple as the following will do:

Sub AddPageIfOddNumberOfPages()
If ActiveDocument.BuiltInDocumentProperties("number of pages") Mod 2 <> 0 Then
    Selection.EndKey Unit:=wdStory
    Selection.InsertBreak Type:=wdSectionBreakNextPage
End If
End Sub

Of course, this macro should only be run a single time, just before you print the document for the first time.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the WordTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (13150) 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: Making Sure a Document Always Has an Even Number of Pages.

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

Making Sure Num Lock is On

The Num Lock key controls how your numeric keypad behaves and, possibly, a few other behaviors. Here's how to adjust ...

Discover More

Applying Bullets from the Keyboard

Most people use the tools on the Home tab of the ribbon to apply bullets to paragraphs. If you want to apply them using ...

Discover More

Locking the Size of Pictures in Comments

Excel allows you to place pictures inside of comments. If you do this, you may have experienced a situation where the ...

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 2013. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2013 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Changing Sections

When you divide your document into sections in order to change page layout attributes, you need to give some thought to ...

Discover More

Understanding Font Styles

Fonts, by default, come with one or more styles that define variations of how that font is displayed in your document. ...

Discover More

Quickly Displaying Formatting Specs

It's easy to apply formatting to text, but often hard (after the fact) to know exactly what was done. If you often need ...

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.

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.

What is six minus 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.

Videos
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.