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Microsoft Word is the world’s most widely used word processing software. It is used by individuals and businesses across the globe. Although Word is designed to be easy to use, still many struggles to use common functions of Word. One such function is to add page numbers in Word. So, this blog will explore in detail how you can add page numbers in Word and also discuss more advanced options around it.

Add Basic Page Numbers

Let’s assume you have a document of 10 pages and you want to add page numbers to it. Follow the below steps to do it:

1. Open the document in Word.
2. Click the “Insert” tab from the top and then click “Page Number”.
3. You will see different options to add a page number, i.e., you can add a page number at the top, bottom, page margins, or current position. Under those options, you also get to choose different formats for adding a page number. So, pick the location and format of the page number of your choice.

Once done, the page numbers will be added to all the pages of the document.

Change Number Format of Page Numbers

You can also change the number format of page numbers to character, italic, and similar others. Follow the below steps to do it:

1. Double click any page number, then right-click and select “Format Page Numbers”.
2. Under “Number format”, click the drop-down menu. From there, you can select any number format you want to set up for the pages.

This way, you can customize the number format of page numbers easily.

Remove Page Number from Title Page

When you add page numbers, Word will automatically add the page number to the title page. So, follow the below steps to remove the page number from the title page:

1. Double click on the page number on your title page. Under the “Header & Footer” tab from the top, tick the “Different First Page” checkbox. This way, the page number will remove from the title page.
2. Now that you have removed the page number from the title page, your second page should be numbered as “1”. However, it will show the number “2”. So, double-click the page number that says “2”, then right-click and select “Format Page Numbers”.
3. Under “Start at”, change the number to “0” and click “OK”. This implies that the page numbers start from 0.

This way, you have removed the page number from the title page and also changed the second page number to 1.

Different Odd & Even Pages

Let’s say that when you want to print the document such that you want even page numbers on the left side and old page numbers on the right side. Follow the below steps to do it:

1. Double click on page number “1”. Under the “Header & Footer” tab from the top, tick the “Different Odd & Even Pages” checkbox.
2. Double click on page number “2”. Under the “Header & Footer” tab from the top, click “Page Number” located on the top left side. From there, select either “Top of Page” or “Bottom of Page” and pick the format in which the page number is displayed on the left side.

This way, the even pages will have a page number on the left side and old pages will have a page number on the right side.

Remove Page Numbers

Just like you learned how to add page numbers, you should also know how to remove page numbers. Follow the below steps to do it:

1. Click the “Insert” tab from the top and then click “Page Number”.
2. Click “Remove Page Numbers”.

Alternatively, you can double-click the page number, highlight the page number, and press the “Delete” button.

Start Page Numbers from Specific Pages

It is a common practice that we set different page numbers for the table of content pages and different page numbers for the rest of the document. So, if your document also includes the table of content pages, then you have to divide the document into multiple sections and allocate page numbers separately. Follow the below steps to do it:

1. Remove Page Breaks and Add Section Breaks

You first have to remove the page breaks and add section breaks. To check the page breaks, click the “Home” tab from the top and then click the “paragraph marking” icon located next to the “sort” icon. It will show all the page breaks in your document.

If there are page breaks between the title, table of content, and content pages, then remove them by simply clicking the page break and then hitting the delete button.

Click the left mouse key between the title and table of content. Afterward, click the “Layout” tab from the top, then click “Breaks”, and lastly click “Next Page”. This way, the section break is added that behaves like the page break and also separates the page as a section. Similarly, add a section break between the table of content page and the first page of the content. Lastly, turn off the paragraph marking now.

2. Delink Sections from Each Other

You now have 3 sections in your document, so you can set separate page numbers for them. But first, you have to delink sections from each other. To do that, double click the footer area beneath the table of content page and click “Link to Previous”. This way, it will delink from the title page section. Do the same for the content pages section.

3. Set Page Number and Format for Sections

Now that you have delinked sections, it’s time to set the page number and format for sections. To do that, follow the below sub-steps:

1. Double click the footer area beneath the table of content page.
2. Under the “Header & Footer” tab from the top, click “Page Number” located on the top left side. From there, select either “Top of Page” or “Bottom of Page” and pick the format in which the page number should be displayed.
3. Double-click the page number, then right-click and select “Format Page Numbers”.
4. Under “Number format”, click the drop-down menu. From there, you can select any number format you want to set up for the table of content page.
5. Follow the above 4 steps to add page numbers for the content pages section.

This way, you have now set separate page numbers for your sections.

Page 1 of X Formatting

Until now, we have discussed how to add page numbers in a document in multiple ways. But what if you want the reader to know how many pages are left to read in a document, something like “Page 2 of 12”. So, let’s discuss the steps on how to do it:

1. Double-click the page number “1” and type “Page” and “of” between 1.
2. Left click the mouse next to the word “of” and add a space.
3. Under the “Header & Footer” tab from the top, click “Document Info”, and then click “Field”.
4. Under “Categories”, select “Numbering” and then click “SectionPages”. Afterward, click “OK”.

This way, you will notice that your page numbers now point to the last page of the document, helping the reader know anytime how many pages are left to read. However, there is one downside of this approach. This only works for one section, so if your document has multiple sections, then it won’t point to the correct last page of the document. For that, you have to use the bookmark and cross-reference approach. Follow the below steps to do it:

1. Double-click the page number “1” and type “Page” and “of” between 1.
2. Click the mouse cursor on the last word of your document. Let’s suppose the last word is “Finish”.
3. Click the “Insert” tab from the top, click “Links”, and then click “Bookmark”.
4. Type the bookmark name as “Finish” and click the “Add” button.
5. Left-click the mouse next to the word “of” and add a space.
6. Click the “Insert” tab, click “Links” and then click “Cross-reference”.
7. Select the “Finish” bookmark and select “Page number” under the “Insert reference to” section. Once done, click “Insert” and then click “Close”.

This way, your page number will now point to the “Finish” page number no matter in which section it is. This way, if you have multiple sections, you can still accurately set the page 1 to x formatting.

Microsoft Word provides a lot of customization options when it comes to adding page numbers. Above we have discussed multiple approaches on adding page numbers. So, follow the above methods and elevate your document with rightly placed and accurate page numbers.

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