How to Control the Page Numbering in a Word Document

Word's page numbering scheme isn't intuitive; but once you understand how it works, all sorts of possibilities open up.

Unfortunately, Word's built-in tools for working with page numbers hide what's really going on. So, just for a moment, forget everything you've learned or think you know about page numbers and let's start at the beginning. It won't take too long . . .

Documents are Composed of Sections
A new blank document consists of a single section. Each time you insert a Section Break into the document, the document gains a section. In other words, if you create a new blank document, then choose Break on the Insert menu and select a Next Page Section Break, the document will thereafter consist of two sections: material from the start of the document up through and including the break represents Section 1. Material after that represents Section 2.

In some cases, Word inserts Section Breaks automatically. One example: when you select some text and then change the number of columns or the page orientation. Because of this, your document may contain multiple sections even if you didn't explicitly insert a section break of your own.

Page Numbers are a Section Property
Technically speaking, page numbers are a section property, not a document property. A page's number is determined by only two factors:

1. The start at value assigned to the document section.
   
   
2. The location of the page within its document section.

This means, if a document section has been told to start at page 5, the first page of that section will be page 5, the second page will be page 6, the third page will be page 7, and so on.

Every Page has a Number
All pages have numbers. Just because a page has a number doesn't mean the number will appear somewhere on the page. Far from it. The number never appears unless you tell Word to display it.

To Display a Page Number, Use a PAGE Field
The easiest way to tell Word to display a page's number somewhere on the page is to insert a field code as follows:

1. Position the cursor where you want the number to appear. (Often, this is the header or footer. To position the cursor in one of these locations, on the View menu choose Header and Footer.)
   
   
2. Press Ctrl/F9 to insert a pair of field braces: { }. (Do not just type the brace characters. You must use Ctrl/F9 field braces.)
   
   
3. Between the field braces, type PAGE. This will look as follows: { PAGE }
   
   
4. To control the numeric format of the number, add a switch by continuing to type until your field looks like one of the following:
        { PAGE \* Arabic }
        { PAGE \* alphabetic }
        { PAGE \* ALPHABETIC }
        { PAGE \* roman }
        { PAGE \* ROMAN }
   
   
5. Right-click anywhere between the braces and choose Update Field. If, having done that, the field code is still visible, switch field codes off by pressing Alt/F9.

How a PAGE Field Works
The PAGE field code is as uncomplicated as it looks. It has no effect on Word's page numbering scheme. It simply tells Word to display the number of the current page at the field location. As noted above, the page's number is dependent on:

1. The start at value assigned to the document section.
   
   
2. The location of the page within its document section.

Changing a Document Section's Start at Value
To change a document section's start at value, proceed as follows:

1. Position the cursor in the section of the document whose start at value you want to change.
   
   
2. Go into the Header or Footer.
   
   
3. On the Header/Footer toolbar, click the Format Page Numbers button, which looks like this image:
   
   
4. Click Start At and enter the desired page number value, as shown in the dialog image below.
   
   
   
   
5. Click OK to close the dialog.

More About Page Numbers
The following ideas are presented for extra credit only. Please see me after class if you're worried about your grades.

• What is the Same as previous property?
  If a document is divided into multiple sections, the headers and footers for each section start out with their same as previous property turned on by default. This feature lets you insert a { PAGE } field into the header or footer for Section 1 and automatically have it appear in the headers or footers for all other document sections.

If you want to make changes to the header or footer for Section 1, without having those changes show up in the header or footer for all other document sections, you must turn off this feature by viewing each header and footer and clicking the Same As Previous button, which looks like this image: , on the Header and Footer toolbar until the button is no longer depressed.

• A Document Can Have as Many as Three Different Headers and Three Different Footers Per Section
  Each section of a document can have up to three headers and footers: the first page header and footer, odd page headers and footers, and even page (aka primary) headers and footers.
  
  The actual number of headers and footers available in a given section is determined by the Different First Page checkbox and Different Odd and Even Pages checkbox in the Page Setup dialog. To view these settings, position the cursor in the document section you're interested in, then on the File menu choose Page Setup and then choose the Layout tab to reach the dialog as shown in the image below.
  
  
  
  Changes made to a section's first page header or footer have no effect on the section's odd page header or footer or the section's even page header or footer and vice versa all the way around. Therefore, always be sure to position the cursor on the type of page whose header or footer you want to edit before viewing the header or footer.
  
  
• How to Create Smarter Page Numbers
  Caution! If you use the following techniques on a shared document, make sure you discuss the techniques with your fellow users. Otherwise, another user may unsuspectingly ruin your page numbering.

  Now that you know about { page } fields, you're just two steps away from some truly amazing possibilities, made possible by two other fields, the Formula ( = ) field, and the If field.

  • Want to force Word to display a number that's one higher than the real page number? Try using the following field, where braces are inserted using Ctrl/F9:
    
         { = { PAGE } + 1 }
    
    
  • Want to tell Word to display a page number on pages one, two, and three, but not on any other pages? Try using the following field, where braces are inserted using Ctrl/F9:
    
         { IF { PAGE } < 4 "{ PAGE }" "" }
    
    Note! Make sure to leave spaces around the < sign.
    
    
  • Want to tell Word to put the real page number on pages one, two, and three, but a higher-by-one page number on all other pages? Try using the following field, where braces are inserted using Ctrl/F9:
    
         { IF { PAGE } < 4 "{ PAGE }" "{ = { PAGE } + 1 }" }
    
    
  • Want Word to insert Continued... on every page except the final page, where you want it to display - End - instead? Use this:
    
         {IF { PAGE } < { NUMPAGES } "Continued..." "- End -" }

Bonus! Section Manager Macro
Microsoft provided a Section Manager macro in Office 97, which can be used with Office 97 and above. Download the Section Manager code module and follow the instructions to add this useful macro to Word.

Need further help getting your complex Word docs formatted? Join our free Word Doc Design support group! See this link for details: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Word_DocDesign/ .