How to Add Page Numbers in Microsoft Word

Whether you are submitting an essay to a professor or handing a printed contract to a client, an unnumbered document is incredibly frustrating to read. If a 20-page document is dropped on the floor, reassembling it without page numbers is a nightmare.

Fortunately, Microsoft Word features a robust automated pagination system. You should never attempt to manually type page numbers at the bottom of every page; the moment you add a new paragraph, all your manually typed numbers will shift to the wrong pages. Word’s automatic tool ensures your numbers remain perfectly sequential, regardless of how much you edit the document.

How to Insert Basic Page Numbers

The fastest way to number a document is to use Word’s built-in formatting presets.

1. Open your document in Microsoft Word.
2. Look at the Ribbon at the top of the screen and click on the Insert tab.
3. Look towards the right side of the ribbon for the “Header & Footer” section.
4. Click the Page Number button.
5. A drop-down menu will appear, asking where you want the numbers to be located. Bottom of Page is the standard for most professional and academic documents.
6. Hover your mouse over “Bottom of Page” to reveal a gallery of visual styles. You can choose to align the number to the left, center, or right. For standard MLA or APA format, select Plain Number 3 (which places the number in the bottom right corner).

Word will instantly jump to the bottom of the page, open the “Footer” editing area, and insert the correct number. You will see that the main text of your document has turned light grey. To exit the Footer editing area and return to normal typing, simply double-click anywhere inside the main body of your document.

How to Start Page Numbers on Page 2 (Removing the Title Page Number)

The most common problem users face is that Word puts a massive “1” on their beautifully formatted Title Page. Standard academic rules state that the Title Page should be blank, and the page numbering should begin on the actual first page of text.

Here is how to hide the number on the first page:

1. Double-click on the number at the bottom of your first page. This will reopen the Header & Footer tab on the ribbon.
2. Look at the “Options” section of the ribbon (near the middle).
3. Check the box labelled Different First Page.

The number “1” will instantly vanish from your title page. However, if you scroll down to your second page, you will notice it is numbered “2”.

How to Make the Second Page Start with “1”

If your professor demands that the second page (the start of your essay) is labelled as Page 1, you must tell Word to change its counting logic.

1. Stay in the Header & Footer menu.
2. Click the Page Number button on the far left side of the ribbon.
3. Select Format Page Numbers… from the drop-down menu.
4. A small dialogue box will appear. Look at the very bottom section labelled “Page numbering.”
5. Change the setting from “Continue from previous section” to Start at:.
6. Type a 0 in the box.
7. Click OK.

Because you told Word to start counting at zero, your Title Page is now mathematically Page 0 (which is invisible because you checked the “Different First Page” box). Therefore, the second piece of paper in your document is now perfectly numbered as Page 1.