Start page numbering later in your document in Word for Mac

Sometimes you might not want the page numbers shown in your header or footer to be the same as the actual page numbers of the document.

2016 2011



Choose the scenario that most closely matches what you want to do:

You don't want a page number to appear on your title page, but you want the second page to show "Page 2."

Remove the page number from the first page

1. On the Insert tab, click Header > Edit Header (or Footer > Edit Footer).

2. On the Header & Footer Tools Design tab, select Different First Page.

   

   Note: Different first page can be applied to the first page of any section in your document, not just the very first page.

3. In the header or footer area, you should see a label on the first page that says First Page Header. Select the page number to highlight it and press Delete.

4. Click Close Header and Footer or press Esc to exit.

The first page of your document is a cover page, the second page is a table of contents, and you want the third page to show "Page 1."

Start page numbering later in your document

To start page numbering later in your document, first divide the document into sections, unlink the sections, and then insert page numbers.

1. Click in the document where you want to insert a section break.

2. Click Layout > Breaks > Next Page.
   

   (Make sure you don't click Page; this will insert a new blank page in your document.)

3. Double-click in the header or footer area where you want to display page numbers. This will open the Header & Footer tab.

4. Click Link to Previous to turn it off and unlink the header or footer from the previous section.
   
   

5. Click Page Number > Page Number and then choose the alignment and position you want.

6. Click Page Number > Format Page Numbers to open the Page Number Format dialog box.

7. To start numbering with 1, click Start at, and type 1 (otherwise, Word will use the actual page number).
   

8. Click OK.

9. When you're done, click Close Header and Footer or double-click anywhere outside the header or footer area.
   

You're working with a document set, and your first document starts with "Page 1" and ends on "Page 52." You want the first page in the second document in the set to start with "Page 53," because it's the next consecutive number.

Start page numbering with a number other than 1

1. Double-click in the header or footer area of a page in your document.

   Word opens the header or footer for editing and displays the Header & Footer tab.

   

2. If your document does not already have page numbers, click Page Number in the Header & Footer tab, and then click Page Number.

   

   Word displays Page Numbers, where you can select the position and alignment of page numbers, and then click OK to add them to your document.

   

3. Click Page Number > Format Page Numbers.

   

4. In the Page Number Format dialog box, select Start at, and then type the number you want as the starting page number for the document.

   

5. Click OK.

6. To stop editing the header or footer, click Close Header and Footer, or double-click anywhere outside the header or footer area.

   

Choose the scenario that most closely matches what you want to do:

You don't want a page number to appear on your title page, but you want the second page to show "Page 2."

Remove the page number from the first page

1. On the Document Elements tab, under Header and Footer, click Page #.

   

2. Clear the Show number on first page check box.

   Note: If your document is divided into sections, select the sections in which you want to hide the page number on the first page of the section.

The first page of your document is a cover page, the second page is a table of contents, and you want the third page to show "Page 1."

Start page numbering later in your document

1. On the View menu, click Draft.

2. Click in the section where you want to start page numbering.

   If your document does not contain any section breaks, insert, delete, or change a section break where you want to start page numbering. On the Insert menu, point to Break, and then select the appropriate kind of section break.

3. On the View menu, click Header and Footer.

4. Click the Header area at the top of the page, or the Footer area at the bottom of the page.

5. On the Document Elements tab, under Header and Footer, click Page #.

   

6. Click Format.

7. In the Start at box, enter 1, and then click OK.

   Tips: 

   • You can number each section in a document independently.

   • To suppress printing of the page number on the first page of a section, clear the Show number on first page check box in the Page Numbers dialog box.

You're working with a document set, and your first document starts with "Page 1" and ends on "Page 52." You want the first page in the second document in the set to start with "Page 53," because it's the next consecutive number.

Start page numbering with a number other than 1

1. On the View menu, click Print Layout.

2. On the Document Elements tab, under Header and Footer, click Page #.

   

3. Click Format.

4. In the Start at box, enter a number, and then click OK.

   Notes: 

   • If your document is divided into sections, click in the section where you want to change the starting page number.

   • You can number each section in a document independently.

See Also

Add or remove page numbers

Add page numbers to an existing header or footer

Add page number X of Y to a document