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Sections, Section Breaks, Page Numbering, Columns, Headers and Footers, and Watermarks in Microsoft Word

Word 2007-2021 (365) (for Word 97-2003 click here)
Introduction

Sections are the Word feature that controls page number formatting, Headers and footers, orientation (portrait/landscape), margins and columns. Watermarks are also, to some extent, a part of Sections.If you are having problems or questions with one of these, you need to know more about Sections in Word.

This chapter is not about the "Repeating Section Content Control" available beginning with Word 2013, which has nothing to do with Word Sections.

What You Will Learn

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
bulletUse Sections in Word
bulletUse different types of Section Breaks.  Have a Section start on an odd-numbered page (or an even-numbered page).
bulletView Headers and Footers
bulletEdit Headers and Footers
bulletUse advanced formatting in Headers and Footers
bulletHave the first page of a Section (Document) have a Header/Footer different from continuation pages.
bulletHave Different Headers / Footers / Page Numbers on Odd-Numbered Pages from Those on Even-Numbered Pages
bulletCreate a First-Page Header/Footer and Continuation Page Header/Footer in a template with only one page.
bulletHave a Header/Footer appear only on the last page or some other page without a section break.
bullet Visual design techniques to set the Header and Footer off from the body of the document.
bulletInsert Page Numbers (in or out of Headers / Footers)
bulletUsing the Page Number Gallery
bulletUsing a Keyboard Shortcut of Alt+Shift+P
bulletUse Different Fields for Page Numbering
bulletInsert a Page X of Y structure
bulletFormat your page numbers
bulletRemove page numbers
bulletPrint a Range of Pages With Multiple Sections
bulletAdd a Custom Page Number to one of your Page Number Galleries
bulletHave both portrait and landscape orientations on different pages in your document
bulletSet up columns in your document
bulletChange the page size for your document or have different-sized pages in your document.
bulletHave Word tell you which Section you are in
bulletPage Numbering and Header/Footer Anomalies When You Use a Cover Page
bulletInsert a Watermark, Stock or Custom, and Add Your Custom Watermarks to the Gallery
bulletInsert a Watermark on only the first page of a multi-page document (or only on continuation pages)
bulletInsert different Watermarks on even- and odd-numbered pages.
bulletInsert Multiple Watermarks in general.
bulletSet different page margins for different Sections
bulletKnow which Word features create section breaks automatically
bulletKnow that Page Borders can be a Section setting including different first page
bulletKnow what happens when you start a new Section? What gets carried over?
bulletBe able to see on screen or in your document which Section you are in.
bullet Troubleshoot Sections, Headers, Footers, Page Numbers & Watermarks

Additional Written Resources

Note, although many of these resources say they are for a certain version, the basics of sections, page numbers, and headers and footers is little changed from Word 97.

bulletThis chapter for Word 97-2003
bulletWord for Law Firms by Payne Consulting Group:
bulletWord 97 for Law Firms (also at Amazon.com UK)
bulletWord 2000 for Law Firms (also at Amazon.com UK)
bulletWord X (2002) for Law Firms (also at Amazon.com UK)
bullet Word 2013 for Law Firms by Payne Consulting Group
bullet Working with Sections (or Why Word appears to behave so illogically when you delete or move a Section break or How to preserve Section formatting when pasting between documents) by Dave Rado, MVP
bulletCreate dictionary-style Headers / footers describing page contents. Charles Kenyon.
bulletHow can I get a different Header - footer on the second page in Microsoft Word? Charles Kenyon. Includes tips and links on creating letterhead and letter templates.
bulletHeaders? Headings? What is the difference? Charles Kenyon
bulletQuick Reference Card for Headers, Footers and Page Numbers - pdf - Charles Kenyon
bullet Using Headers and Footers by Suzanne Barnhill, MVP - excellent and comprehensive web page
bullet Master Headers and footers in long Word 2007 documents by Katherine Murray, Mary Millhollon, and Beth Melton from Microsoft Word 2007 Inside Out
bullet Word 2010 Tutorial on Headers and Footers - Microsoft
bullet Chapter 19 on Headers and Footers in Microsoft Word 2010 Bible by Herb Tyson, MVP for info on Word 2007 - 2021
bullet How to Control Page Numbering in a Word Document by Bill Coan, MVP. Using Fields for Page Numbering - Much more Control
bullet How to Put a Portrait Page Number on a Landscape Page by Bill Coan, MVP, Dave Rado, MVP, and Suzanne Barnhill, MVP
bullet Different Margins on the First Page by Suzanne Barnhill, MVP
bulletRemoving Page Numbers by Charles Kenyon
bullet The Straight and Narrow: Using Columns by Suzanne Barnhill, MVP and Dave Rado, MVP.
bullet Letterhead in Headers - Template that can add itself to QAT
bullet Letterhead System - download a system for letter forms that can be easily updated
bullet Letterhead Textboxes and Styles Tutorial - two-page template download that demonstrates use of 
bullettextboxes in Headers and footers to reserve space for preprinted letterhead
bulletStyles that are based on each other and use the style for following paragraph feature
bulletUse of the StyleRef field to insert information from the body of a letter into the continuation page Headers automatically
bulletInsertion of a date automatically that will not change when you open the document at a later date (but can be changed manually)
bulletSee How can I get a different Header - footer on the second page in Microsoft Word? for more on how this tutorial works.
bullet Date Fields in Microsoft Word
bullet So You Want to Write a Book Using Microsoft Word - extensive tutorial by MVP Daiya Mitchell with overview of Styles, Templates and Sections and the interactions among these tool/features. Excellent! Not just for those who want to write books!
bullet How to prevent a Header/footer from being edited by Bill Coan, MVP
bullet How to set up a document with front matter numbered separately - 2007/2010/2013/2016/2019/2021 by Suzanne Barnhill, MVP
bullet How to number headings and figures in Appendices by Shawna Kelly
bullet Document Splitter by Greg Maxey - addin to break document into component documents
bullet Is there an automatic way to create a non-blank, even-numbered page at the end of a chapter, if the chapter would otherwise end on an odd page? by John McGhie, MVP
bullet Use Alignment Tab Feature to set tabs relative to margins - especially valuable for Headers/footers
bulletMissing Page Number / Header / Footer Commands - greyed out - Charles Kenyon
bullet Page x of y in Word 2007-2021 - Charles Kenyon
bullet FileName and Path Add-In - Adds Shortcut Key to insert the FileName and Path field at Cursor Position
bullet FileName and Path Templates - .dotx and .dot files with filename and path fields in all three footers
bullet Different Page Numbering in Header and Footer demonstration - .docx and .doc files with page numbers by document in Header and by Section in footer.
bullet Add the catchwords from the top of the following page to the footer by Graham Mayor, MVP
bulletAdd Page X of Y Building Blocks for Headers and Footers to Ribbon Versions of Word
bullet Watermarks in Word - Microsoft Support 2021
bullet How to Create and Save Your Own Custom Watermark by legal office guru Deborah Savadra (video)
bullet Build Reusable Headers and Footers in Word by legal office guru Deborah Savadra (video)
bullet Conditional Headers and Footers (Advanced) by Greg Maxey, MVP
bullet Microsoft Word 2010 Bible by Herb Tyson, MVP
bullet Shifting Gutter Position to Right Using Shapes in the Headers or Using Mirrored Margins - Answers page

 

Click to return to table of contents page of Legal Users' Guide to Microsoft Word.
(this guide table of contents) ------- (MS Word New Users FAQ)

This chapter last edited by Charles Kenyon on Thursday 29 February 2024 .

 

Preliminary note: While this Chapter is based on the Sections chapter of the Legal Users Guide for Microsoft Word, that chapter was written for Word 2002.
This chapter has extensive changes to account for the Ribbon user interface. Those changes/revisions have not undergone any kind of peer review other than user comments. It remains a work in progress.

Using Sections in Word 2007, Word 2010, Word 2013, 2016, 2019 and Word 2021 / Word 365

Word uses Section breaks to specify parts of a document that have different page orientation, columns, or Headers and footers.
Section breaks allow the user to specify where the different formatting will begin and end.
You would use Section breaks in the following circumstances:

bulletDifferent Headers and footers. If the document you are working on needs to have different Headers and footers on various pages, you would use Section breaks to achieve this. Note, using the StyleRef Field in your Headers and footers will make the need for changes less than you might anticipate.
bulletDifferent page numbering schemes. If you are working in a document where the Table of Contents needs lower case Roman numerals, the contract needs Arabic numerals, and the Appendices need alphabetic numerals, you can achieve all of these with Section breaks. See How to set up a document with front matter by Suzanne Barnhill for a full discussion.
bulletRestart Page numbering. You can restart page numbering anywhere in a document by inserting a section break and using the Format Page Numbers dialog.
bulletDifferent paper sizes. If you want a document to contain one legal-sized page and the rest letter-sized pages, you'll need a Section break between the pages.
bulletDifferent margins. Be sure to distinguish Margins from Paragraph Indents.
If the first page of a letter needs a two-inch margin, and the following pages need a different margin, you should not use a Section break in the document. A Section break is not appropriate for this purpose. You can use a different first-page Header to mimic a different margin without inserting a Section break. You may want different margins in different parts of your document for other purposes, though. A Section break is appropriate in those instances. Note also that if you want to inset text on a page, you want to change the paragraph indents, not the margins.
bulletDifferent Orientation. If you need to mix pages that have a portrait orientation with those that have a landscape orientation.
bulletColumns. You can use Word's newspaper column feature in the middle of a page, and place Section breaks before and after the multiple columns. If you have text prepared and put it into a column format, word will automatically put in the Section breaks.
bulletDocument protection. You can apply different protection levels to different Sections in Word. This lets you allow editing in some Sections and not others.
bulletRestart Footnote/Endnote numbering. This numbering can be restarted with a new Section. Endnotes can be at the end of a Section rather than at the end of the document.
bulletStart Section on Odd-Numbered Page (or Even-Numbered Page). You can tell Word to start a section on an Odd- or Even-numbered page.
bullet(Word 2013 and later) Interrupt Collapsible Headings - not necessarily the best use for a section break
When you do NOT want or at least need a Section Break

Section breaks are very useful but they do make documents a bit more complex. This can cause formatting problems that are hard to spot. See Troubleshooting below for examples.
They should not be used when you do not need  to do so.

bulletChanging headers/footers so they reflect the content of the current chapter or page (See StyleRef Field )
bulletChange in margins that should be handled using indents or other methods., ala Wordperfect
bulletMoving text down on the page at the beginning of a Chapter (when it can be handled with a frame)

Here is an excellent summary image on some the formatting that sections control:

 

graphic showing sections from blog

Here is John McGhie's analysis of what a Section Break, in Word, is:

A Section Break is not just a page break, it is a binary container that stores several hundred properties in multiple tables. The largest Section Break is the Default Section Break. You will never see one. The default Section Break hides in the very last paragraph mark of a document. Because it is absolutely essential to the document (without it, the file is just a stream of bytes, not a document) Word maintains the contents itself and hides it from you and me.

That was for the .doc format. The .docx format is better, but each section break still carries a great amount of formatting, much more than is obvious from looking at the document.

How to view a Section Break

The Break dialog for Word 2007 and Word 2010, accessible from the Page Layout Tab

Word 2007-2021 put the controls for Section breaks on the Page Layout tab under "Breaks."

You can see the Section breaks in your document in many views, but in draft view they are easiest to recognize. Once you insert the Section break a double dotted line appears from one side of your document to the other.

You can also view them in Print Layout view using the Show All button on the Home tab. Pillcrow - show all button in Microsoft Word However, in that view they may disappear or be difficult to see if at the end of a paragraph that extends close to the right margin.

Practice: Inserting a Section break (Word 2007-2021)
  1. Open a blank document.
  2. Change your document view to Draft.
  3. Type the following: Title Page.
  4. Now insert a new page Section break: Page Layout (tab) > Break (right side of page setup group).
  5. Choose Next Page Section Break.
  6. Type Table of Contents.
  7. Insert a new page Section break: Page Layout (tab) > Break (right side of page setup group).
  8. Choose Next Page Section Break.
  9. Type Main document.

View of exercise document in Word 2010. (2007 will have the Pizza button Sections Office 2007 2010 Office Button Pizza Button instead of the File tab)

View your document in Print Layout. You now have three Sections. Switch between Draft and Page Layout views in this document to see how the Section break appearance differs. (We will be using this document in the next exercise.) Note: To make it easier to see the example, I applied the Heading 1 style to each of the lines.

Change Page Formatting in a Specific Section

To better understand how Sections work, think of your document as a book with different chapters, and each chapter starts with page number one.

In the last exercise we created a document with three separate Sections. We are now able to apply unique formatting to each Section of the document. The exercise that follows will help you change the margins and the page layout in the document using Section breaks.

Practice: Change Page Formats in Sections
  1. Use the document you created in the last exercise.
  2. Press CTRL+END to move to the end of your document. You should be in Section 3.
  3. Choose Page Layout (tab) >click Orientation.
  4. In the Orientation area, select Landscape.
  5. By default, this change will apply only to the Section you are in.
  1. The last page should now be landscape and the rest of the document should still be portrait.
  2. Press CTRL+HOME to go to the top of the document.
  3. Choose Page Layout (tab) and click on the Page setup dialog (arrow in bottom right corner of group)
  4. Click on the Layout tab of this dialog box
  5. In the center under "Page" is a drop-down for Vertical Alignment
  6. In this Vertical Alignment Section, select Center from the drop-down list.
  7. Click OK. Your "TITLE PAGE" text should now be centered vertically.
  8. Try changing margins in a specific Section. (Page Layout tab)
Start a Section on an Odd-Numbered- (or Even-Numbered-) Page

Section breaks are often used to begin a chapter in a larger document. Generally one wants chapters to start on odd-numbered pages. (Rarely, on an even-numbered page.)

An odd-page section break inserts a section break with the first page being an odd-numbered page according to the formatted page number.

When an odd-page section break is inserted, Word will skip to the next odd-numbered page if necessary to start on an odd-number. On screen it just looks like a page number was skipped. When the document is printed (or in a pdf) a blank page with no header or footer will be inserted but count in the page numbering. No page number appears on the inserted page.

An even-page section break inserts a section break with the first page being an even-numbered page according to the formatted page number.

When an even-page section break is inserted, Word will skip to the next even-numbered page if necessary to start on an even-number. On screen it just looks like a page number was skipped. When the document is printed (or in a pdf) a blank page with no header or footer will be inserted but count in the page numbering. No page number appears on the inserted page.

If you need the headers/footers/page numbers to appear, see Is there an automatic way to create a non-blank, even-numbered page at the end of a chapter, if the chapter would otherwise end on an odd page? by John McGhie, MVP.

These section breaks are often used with different odd and even headers/footers and mirrored margins.

Headers and Footers

A Header or footer is text or other information such as graphics that is stored at the top or bottom of the page throughout your document. You can use the same Header and footer throughout a document or change the Header and footer for part of the document. For example, you can use your corporate logo in the first-page Header, and then include the document's file name in the Header for subsequent pages. Word headers are sometimes called Running Heads.

The various Header/footer settings can be confusing. This recap may help you sort things out. See also: Using Headers and Footers by Suzanne Barnhill, MVP - an excellent and comprehensive web page just on Headers and footers.

Word 2007-2021 put the controls for the Headers and Footers under the Insert tab. Before using the new Headers/footers in the galleries, you may want to read this thread about some frustrating problems. You can still create your own Headerlfooters by choosing "Edit."

Quick Reference Card for Headers, Footers and Page Numbers

Insert tab in Word 2007

Header gallery                                        Footer Gallery

 

View of the Header and Footer Tools when in edit Header mode

CK Note: If you Edit the Header or Footer rather than insert one of the Building Blocks the formatting starts with a blank area using the Header and Footer paragraph styles. For some reason, the Building Block Headers and footers directly format rather than use these styles. The basic style has tab settings for a Center tab at 3.25" and a Right tab at 6.5". These are based on 1" margins. The Building Block Headers and footers tend to use Center and Right justifications rather than the tab settings. You can easily view these settings by clicking the Ruler box under the View tab.

Header Footer Ruler sections word 2010

If you want to change the appearance of all of the Headers and footers in a document, modify the Header and Footer Styles. Your editor tends to have Headers and footers extend outside the page margins by half an inch and be in Italic using a different font. I use sanserif fonts for Headers and footers and serif fonts for body text. This is intended to emphasize that the Headers and footers are outside of the body, a textual frame for the page. It is intended that they provide information without interrupting the reader's flow from page to page.

This advice to modify the style assumes that the Header/Footer is using the style. Some of the building block Headers and footers do not use these styles. You can apply the styles but that will likely change more of the formatting than just the tab settings.

Practice: Insert a Header and Footer
  1. Choose Insert (tab) > Header.
  2. Pick the Edit Header choice.
  3. Your insertion point should be in the Header
  4. Press Ctrl+R to align to the right side of the Header.
  5. Type DRAFT Rough Outline.
  6. Click the Go to Footer button to move to the footer.
  7. By default in the Footer style there are already Center and Right Tabs set.
  8. Press TAB once to move to the center of the Footer.
  9. Click the Page Number button and pick the "Current Position" option - Plain Number.

 
Note Note  If you want to add the word "Page" or dashes on either side of the number, you can type the information before inserting the page number.

  1. Press TAB once to move to the right side of the Footer.
  2. Click the Date & Time button to insert the date. You can select a date format.

 
Warning Warning  If you check the Update Automatically will insert an updating date that will change to the current date each time you print. (In previous versions this was the default.)

See Using Date Fields in Microsoft Word


  1. Click Close Header & Footer on the Header and Footer tools bar.
  2. Switch to Print Layout to view your newly added Header and Footer.
Space on the page of Headers and Footers

The page layout settings reserve room for headers and footers. Even if there is no header or footer, that reserved space will not be filled by the body text. However, if you put more in a header or footer than the space reserved, the body text will not overwrite it. The header or footer will be allowed that space. This includes space-after or space-before formatting of the line closest to the body text.

While one normally thinks of the header as being the top of the page and the footer as being the bottom of the page, a header or footer can place text anywhere on a page. If it is not continuous text, a textbox or frame can hold text anywhere on the page but still be in the header/footer layer of the document.

Marginal page numbering is done with a Page field inside a shape or a frame. You can create false left and right margins by putting a shape in the header-footer layer with no border. Text in the body will wrap around it. See my Letterhead Textboxes and Styles tutorial for examples and drawbacks.
 

Note Headers and Footers in Print Layout. 

Headers and Footers will appear faded or gray in "Print Layout" view. They will print with full strength colors.

If instead of seeing a Header or Footer you see a thin gray line between pages and it looks like you have no top or bottom margins, you are set to not view space between pages.

If you put your mouse pointer over that line it will change as shown to the right.
If you click once, you'll see the tool-tip shown here. Double-clicking will show you the Headers and footers with space between pages as shown below:

This is what you will usually want when in Print Layout.

You can also choose this under Options > Display (under the File tab in Word 2010-2021 and under the Office Button Sections Office 2007 2010 Office Button Pizza Button in Word 2007. (below)

Page numbers Sections Microsoft Word White Space

 

 
Note AutoText in the Header/Footer Toolbar. 

You can access Quick Parts including AutoText in the Header Footer Tools bar. Unfortunately, unlike in previous versions, it is not set up well for finding what you want. If you know the name of an entry, you can type that name and press the F3 key to insert it.

Different First Page

There are times when you do not want a header/footer or page number on the first page of your document. In WordPerfect, this was called Suppress. In Word, the feature is called Different First Page. This means you are still able to put information into the Header or Footer but it will not affect the rest of the Headers and Footers in the document.
 
Note Note  Sometimes you want a different header/footer. This is frequently used when the firm logo or partner's names appear on the first page of a letter. See How can I get a different header/footer on the second page?

Word 2007 - 2021 put the controls for page numbering under the Insert tab. Different options are presented and you can also get a dialog box using the Format Page Numbers button. The Different First Page option is on the Header & Footer Tools context tab which comes up when a Header or footer is being edited. It is on that you'll find the options for "Different First Page" and "Different Even and Odd."

Different First Page in Headers and Footers Word 2007 Help 2019 Different First Page help

Note, the Different First Page option applies separately for each Section (unlike the Different Odd and Even option). In any section it will apply to both headers and footers.
Also, note that if a new Section is started following or in a Section that already set up to have a Different First Page, that option will be continued in the new Section. You can change this in the new section.
This can be disconcerting if Word inserts a section break for you when you change margins or columns within a page.

Practice: Turn on Different First Page
  1. Open the document from the last exercise.
  2. Double-click the Header in your document. This will access the Header and footer area and activate the Header and Footer Tools contextual tab. (You can also, on the Insert tab, under header or footer select the option to Edit.)

Word 2007 Word 2010 Headers Footers Sections

  1. Check Different First Page.
  2. Notice the Header area now says "First Page Header -Section 1-".
    Word 2010 2007 Headers Footers Sections
  3. Click on the Close Header and Footer button.
  4. Save this document.
  5. Go to the next page (Section). Note that the Header (not on Section 1) shows in Section 2 (and 3).
  6. Double-click in the Header and note that the designation there is "Header -Section 2-"
  7. On the right side it still says "Link to Previous." If you were to select different First Page for this Section as well, it would give you the same First Page Header as the previous Section (blank).
  8. Note, if there is only one Section, the Section label does not appear.

NOTE: There are times when you want the same footer but different or no header for the first page of your section. The Different First Page setting is for both, it does not distinguish between the header and footer.
In this case it is often easiest to simply copy the text from one footer and paste in the other. If you do this, you can end up with an extra paragraph (likely blank). Delete that paragraph if you want the two to match.

Different Even and Odd Pages (Headers/Footers/Page Numbers)

The Different Even and Odd option allows you to format your Headers and footers differently. For example, you may want the page numbers on the odd pages to be aligned to the right and the page numbers on the even pages to be aligned to the left when you are printing double sided documents. This option is just under the Different First Page option.

Note: the Different Odd and Even option applies to the entire document, not just to one Section. This means that if in some Sections you want the same Header/footer you will have to produce it twice, once for odd pages, and once for even pages. When you select this option, your current headers and footers become the odd-page-header and footers and the even-page headers and footers are displayed on even-numbered pages.

In some cases, it is desirable to not use different even-and-odd settings. In such a case you can use the following fields:
bullet{IF{=MOD({PAGE},2)}= 1 {PAGE}} - odd numbers
bullet{IF{=MOD({PAGE},2)}= 0 {PAGE}} - even numbers

Here the second {PAGE} field in each is what you want to appear on that page. As written, these are for page numbers, but could be used for entire headers and footers as shown below. (Field codes by Paul Edstein)

Link to Previous  

Link to Previous Button (active)

Word's default is to connect all the Headers in the document and all the footers in the document so they are all the same. It does this by using the Link to Previous command. It is important to turn OFF the Link to Previous option FIRST before you make any other changes. This will prevent the previous Section from being changed as well.

 
Tip Tip  It is usually better to start at the top of your document when working with Headers and Footers.

How many Sections do you need? If you are inserting a Section break just to change the text in your Header / footer, look into use of the StyleRef field with Word's built-in heading styles. This lets you change the content of your Header / footer without making any change in the Header / footer. The StyleRef field can reflect the content  of the latest heading or other style and change each time you format something new with that Style.

Note each Section in Word can have up to three Headers and three footers. The choices of different first page, different odd and even apply to both Headers and footers for each Section. The setting for link with previous is independent for each of these, that is, the first page Header can be linked to previous while the first-page footer is not and neither setting has any effect on the settings for the odd or even page Headers and footers.

Practice: Creating first page and continuation page Headers/Footers in a Template with only one page

When a template is created for a report or letterhead you will often want a different first-page Header/footer and also want a different continuation page Header/footer. One obvious way is to insert a temporary page break. However, you can actually create both in a single page.

  1. Choose Insert (tab) > Header.
  2. Pick the Edit Header choice.
  3. Your insertion point should be in the blank Header (Footer) with default tab settings
  4. Type some text, i.e. "This is the first Header I typed" or "This is the continuation page Header."
  5. Click on the option button for "different first page" and what you just typed disappears!
  6. The label changes from "Header" to "First Page Header"
  7. You can now type your Header to appear on the first page.
  8. If later the document has more than one page, your continuation Header
  9. REMINDER: If you have multiple Sections in a document and a Section's Header/footer is set for link to previous, that will continue not only the main Header but any different first page and even/odd page Headers footers. This is true even if you do not see them. Remember, the different-first-page setting can be set for each Section. The different even and odd setting is for the entire document.
Have a Header and/or Footer Appear Only on the Last Page or on Certain Pages Without Using a Section Break

Using a conditional IF Field you can have a header and/or footer appear only on the last page of a document or on certain pages. This is done without using a Section break.

The field would look something like this:

{ IF { PAGE } = { NUMPAGES } "Content you want in the header or footer only the last page" "Content you want in the header or footer on every page but the last page" }

{ IF { PAGE } < { NUMPAGES } "Content you want in the header or footer on all but the last page" "Content you want in the header or footer on only the last page" }

If you want the header or footer to appear only on page 5 of a document it would look like this:

{ IF { PAGE } = "5" "Content you want in the header or footer on page 5 only" "Content you want in the header or footer all pages except page 5" }

The field delimiters (braces) can only be inserted using Ctrl+F9, not typed.

Thanks to MVPs Suzanne Barnhill, Bill Coan, Greg Maxey and Paul Edstein for help understanding this.

For even more, see Condition Headers and Footers by Greg Maxey.

A document can have both Portrait and Landscape orientation pages.

This is handled under the Page Layout Tab using the Orientation Button. This switches the entire document to a different orientation. If you want both types, you would use the Page Setup dialog. You can launch that using the little arrow on the bottom-right of the Page Setup Group on the Page Layout Tab. Since the page orientation is a Section property, if you have both portrait and landscape pages in one document, you must have multiple Sections.

If you use the page setup dialog, you can have an orientation change automatically insert a new page Section break. If you have selected text, the "Apply to:" dropdown allows you to change it only for selected text. (This inserts Section breaks before and after the selection.) If no text is selected, the choices will be "Whole document" and "This point forward." If you already have multiple Sections in your document, an additional choice will appear for "This Section."

Again, if you simply use the Orientation Button, the orientation is changed for the entire document. If the document already has multiple Sections, the button will apply your choice to the current Section.

 

Laying Out Portrait and Landscape orientation Headers/Footers in one document.

Generally Headers and footers are designed to distribute information across the top or bottom of a page, giving the reader a lot of information in a small space. Some information is on the left side, some in the center, and some on the right side of the page.

In versions of Word before Word 2007, this was done using tab settings in the Header and footer styles. This works well if all pages in a document are in the same orientation. It does not work so well when some pages are in portrait, and others in landscape orientation. The default Header and footer styles have a center and right tab set for portrait orientation.

Here are screenshots from Word 2003 showing how this works (or doesn't work).

Portrait Orientation

Landscape Orientation

In these earlier versions of Word, different Headers and footers were needed for each orientation or something different needed to be done to display the components of the Headers/footers.

Alignment Tabs step in

In Headers and footers beginning with Word 2007 there are special margin-alignment tabs (left, center and right).These can be independent of the paragraph or style tab settings. Use Alignment Tab Feature to set tabs relative to margins

Below are screenshots (Word 2010) from a page set up in both portrait and landscape orientations showing how these special tabs adapt to the change in orientation. (You reach this ribbon tab by double-clicking in a Header/footer or by selecting Edit Header/Edit Footer from the Insert Tab.)

Portrait Orientation

The tab settings shown in the ruler are those for my Header style. The Alignment tabs appear to be set the same but are really oriented to the page margins rather than the tab settings in the style. This becomes apparent when this Section is switched to Landscape Orientation.

Landscape Orientation

Note: Right click on the screenshot above and select "View Image" to see full size.

Note that the tab settings in the Header style (shown on the ruler) are the same and the first line using those tabs is unchanged. The second line though uses the new Alignment Tabs and remains set well for this page orientation.

Remember that by default the alignment tabs are independent not only of the tab settings but also the indent settings. In the example shown above the left and right indents were set at the margins, but they do not need to be. By default, the Alignment Tabs align to the margins, not the indents.

Alignment tabs can be used in the body of a document, but the control for it is in the Header and footer tools. You can add this dialog to your Quick Action Toolbar if you need them in the body. (I don't think you really want to do this, but could be wrong.)

While the default with Alignment Tabs is to set them relative to the margins, they can also be set relative to the left and right paragraph indents. My usual Headers and footers have left and right indents outside the margins to emphasize that they are frames to the page. If I were using a right-alignment tab, I would want it relative to the indent so it would line up with the right indent setting. These indents change with orientation because they are relative to the margins.

Unfortunately, the alignment tab will not go past the right margin! The right tab can still be set past the right margin and works, but that will not change with orientation.

You can set alignment tabs relative to paragraph indents. In that case, they are influenced by paragraph formatting and styles.

Having Portrait-oriented headers/footers on a Landscape Page

When a page is in landscape mode, the headers and footers are also in landscape mode.

There are times when the writer wants to have the headers/footers stay in the same place on the physical page rather than rotate with the page content.

This portion arose out of a question asked on the Microsoft Answers site and three solutions were given.

  1. Place headers/footers for this section in rotated text boxes that are actually in the left and right margins of the landscape page. How to put a portrait page number on a landscape page by Bill Coan, Suzanne Barnhill, and Dave Rado, MVPs
  2. Where the contents are only one page put them in a Table and rotate the text in the table. (This requires no section break or different headers/footers because the page remains in portrait orientation.)
  3. Where the landscape contents are only one page, put them in a Text Box and rotate the textbox. (This also requires no section break or different headers/footers.)

See Portrait Headers and Footers in Landscape Section Demonstration.

Visual Techniques for Setting Headers and Footers Off From Body of Document

In many documents it is important to distinguish headers and footers from the body of the text. There are four principal ways to do this:

  1. Provide space between the header and footer and the body of the text. Space after paragraph setting in the Header style and space before in the Footer style can be used to accomplish this.
  2. Use a different font, font style (i.e. Italics) or font size.
  3. Use borders (bottom for Header style, top for Footer Style)
  4. Use wider Indents (not margins) in the headers and footers.

Header and Footer Placement and Space

There are two things the user needs to know about Header and footer placement and space. The first is that either the Header or footer can take up the entire page or be anywhere on the page. The second is that in the page layout dialog the user can set how much space to reserve for the Header and footer from the edge of the page.

Placement

Items in the Header or footer can be anywhere on the page. If they are graphical elements like a logo, WordArt, a Watermark or a TextBox they can be floating and marked to appear behind text. If they are set to be behind text, they will not move text in the body of the document. If they are in-line with text or set for wrapping, text in the body of the document (as well as in the Header or footer) will give them space. This is one way of preparing letterhead templates reserving space for a sidebar on the first page of preprinted letterhead. See Letterhead Textboxes and Styles Tutorial.

Space for Headers and Footers

So that they do not run into text and so that text doesn't seem longer on pages without Headers and footers, space can be reserved for the Header and footer in the Page Layout dialog. First the general rule is that the running Headers and footers will use whatever space they need. That means that if they extend into the body of the document, the text will normally flow around them. Generally you want a bit more space to distinguish the Header and footer from the body of the document. This dialog can be reached by clicking on the dialog launcher in the bottom right corner of the Page Setup group on the Page Layout Tab.

This setting, like most Header and footer settings, is a Section property. That is, you can have multiple Sections in a document, but only one setting in a Section.

Note that few printers can print to the edge of the page and that inkjet printers, in particular, seem to need blank space at the bottom of the page. See The bottoms of pages don't print.

Header and Footer Confusion?

The various Header/footer settings can be confusing. This recap may help you sort things out.


Page Numbers in Word 2007-2021

Page numbers are relatively simple, but the interface can make them seem complicated. Page numbers in Word are always fields, not manually typed numbers. We will start by looking at how to insert them through the Interface's Insert Page Number functions and then look at how they can be inserted and formatted directly.

Quick Reference Card for Headers, Footers and Page Numbers

Word comes with a number of built-in formats that are stored in building blocks.

Page Number gallery Header Footer Word Sections

You can easily add a page number to your document under the Insert tab. Click on the Page Number button and you'll get a short menu giving a choice of positions as well as the option to format or remove page numbers. If you select one of the positions, you'll get a gallery view of your options (below). Note that this gallery has a scroll bar. (Don't see a gallery?)

 

The Page Number button on the left end of the Header and Footer Tools tab is the same as the one on the Insert tab.

 

 

 

Note that all of the positions except "Current Position" put the page number in the active Header or footer replacing everything else currently in that Header/footer. This includes the numbers in the page margins. If you have multiple headers/footers this command only changes the currently active header/footer. See Header/Footer Settings Recap.

Warning Sections Headers Footers

Warning about Page Number Insertion

Repeat: Inserting page numbers using the gallery locations will replace current Headers or footers.

If you already have a Header or footer and want a page number go into the Header / footer edit mode and insert a page number at the current position. This will not replace the Header / footer.

You can also insert Page numbers by inserting Headers or Footers. A supplemental set of building blocks can be downloaded to handle the Page X of Y construction. Page X of Y Building Blocks

The Page Number Galleries (Word 2007 and later)

There are four Page Number Galleries (These are Building Block Galleries.)
bulletCurrent Position (these are inserted in document at the insertion point and can have various formatting)
bulletTop of Page (these go at the top of the page by replacing the current header)
bulletBottom of Page (these go at the bottom the page by replacing the current footer)
bulletPage Margins (These are in frames or textboxes. Inserting one replaces the current header.)

You can add your own formatted page numbers to one of these galleries by using the command at the bottom of the gallery.

Saving Page Number to a page number gallery in Microsoft Word

This will bring up a dialog box in which you can make choices as to Name, description, Gallery, Category, and Template. See Saving AutoText and Other Building Blocks for more direction on making these choices.

 

 

 

Page Numbering Fields

Again, page numbers are fields. This is true no matter how you insert them. If you select a page number and press Shift+F9 to toggle field codes, you will see { PAGE },  a very simple field code. A very simple way to insert a basic { PAGE } field is to press Alt+Shift+P. This is called a keyboard shortcut and inserts the field formatted in the Page Number character style.

If you ever need to insert this manually you also can do so through the Insert Field dialog. You can access this using Insert > Quick Parts > Field.

 

Sections Page Number Field

The Insert Field dialog box is shown above. Using the choices shown will result in a lower case Roman numeral page number in the current formatting. The field would look like this:
{ PAGE  \* roman  \* MERGEFORMAT  } (The MERGEFORMAT switch is inserted by default. It comes from checking the preserve formatting box. I usually uncheck that box.) Rather than use the "\* roman" switch, I recommend using the Format Page Numbers dialog. That page number formatting would be reflected in a Table of Contents, while one with the switch would not.

You do not have to choose the page type when you insert the page number but it is easiest to do so.

Other useful fields are the NumPages and SectionPages fields which give the total number of pages in the document and Section respectively. (There is no SectionPage field that would correspond to the Page field.)

You may want to look at the screenshot (above) in full size. Right-click on it to do this.

See Page Numbering on Greg Maxey's site for information on how to have both a count of the Section pages and of the Document pages in the same spot. Another article on formatting page numbers and manipulating them with calculation fields is Bill Coan's How to Control the Page Numbering in a Word Document.

See Pagination Fields for more on inserting different kinds of page number fields (PAGE, NUMPAGES, Section PAGES and DOCPROPERTY).

See Spell Out Page Numbers for how to create the field codes needed to do that.

i.e. { PAGE \*CardText \*CAPS }

 

Page X of Y

Page X of Y ( 1 of 3, etc.) construction consists of two basic fields, the PAGE field and the NUMPAGES field. Sometimes, the DOCPROPERTY PAGES field is used instead of NUMPAGES. These can be inserted using the Insert > Quick Parts > Field method or you can simply type "page" or "numpages" (without the quotation marks), select the word and press Ctrl+F9 to make it a field and then press F9 to update it. Like Page fields, the NumPages field can be formatted. For fancy manipulation of these and the companion SectionPages field, refer to the articles by Bill Coan and Greg Maxey mentioned above.

See also Page X of Y Add-In.

 

Format Page Numbers

Page number formatting is best controlled using the Format Page Numbers dialog. You get access to this dialog from any Insert Page Numbers menu or control.

Word 97-2003

Word 2007 and later

The page number format dialog gives you a lot of control on how your page numbers appear, not only on the page but also in a Table of Contents, Caption, or Cross-Reference.

The first choice is for the type of numbering.

This lets you choose two variations, each, from the three basic formats: Arabic numerals, Roman numerals, or alphabet (letters).

Next is a checkbox that lets you use Chapter numbering.

If you check it, it activates the selection of the (built-in) heading style which signals the beginning of the chapter. That Chapter will need to be numbered using Automatic Numbering.

You are also allowed a selection of the separator to separate the chapter number from the page number.

(Note: both of the drop-down boxes scroll, they actually show fewer choices at a time.)

You have the option of continuing numbering from the previous section or restarting numbering for the section at a different number (1).

If you start a new section, the choices made here continue in the new section by default. This includes the decision to restart numbering.

Practice: Format Page Numbers - Manual Method 1
You will probably want to understand how to format page numbers. For example, you may add a Table of Contents to your document and would like the page numbering of the front matter before the body of your document to be in lowercase Roman numeral format. As long as your document is divided into Sections, you can have differently formatted page numbers in each Section of your document. See How to set up a document with front matter numbered separately.

For more information on using chapter numbering, see http://wordmvp.com/FAQs/Numbering/ChapterNumber.htm.

For more information on numbering appendixes, see http://www.ShaunaKelly.com/word/numbering/NumberingAppendixes.html.

It is important to remember that page number formatting (including restarting page numbers or starting at some page other than 1) is a Section property. It can be changed with each new Section. When you add a new Section, everything continues as is from the previous Section. You can modify this in the new Section.

If you restart page numbering in a Section and then add a Section break for a new Section, the new Section will also restart page numbering at the same point. If the page numbering is continuous in a Section, when a new Section is started from that Section, the new Section will also have continuous page numbering.

 

Create a new blank document.

Save As (your initials) Sections. (i.e. "ckk Sections.docx" becomes the document name)

  1. Type

    Confidential Employment Agreement
    ZZZ Company
    January 1, 2012

  1. Choose Page Layout(tab) > Breaks. From the Section Breaks area, select Next Page to insert a Next Page Section break.
  2. Type Table of Contents and press ENTER.
  3. Insert a Next Page Section break.
  4. From the Style drop-down list on the Formatting toolbar, choose Body Text.
  5. Type =rand(30) and press ENTER.
  6. Insert a Next Page Section break.
  7. Type Appendix: Salary Increases and press ENTER.
  8. Still on the Page Layout tab choose Orientation and select Landscape.
  9. Save the document.
  10. Press CTRL+HOME to get the top of the document.
  11. Click on the Insert tab. (What follows is manual method 1 to insert a page number)
  12. Click on the Footer button and choose Edit Footer. Your cursor should be in the footer of the first page.
  13. Notice that it says: Footer Section 1. We do not want a page number on the first page so leave it blank.
  14. Click the Show Next button to jump to the next footer. It should read: Footer Section 2
  15. Notice on the right that it says Link to Previous.
  16. Click the Link to Previous button in the Ribbon. This disconnects Section 2 footer from Section 1 footer.
  17. On the Page Number button select Format Page Number. The Page Number Format dialog box opens.

    Page Number Format dialog

  18. From the Number format drop-down list, choose lowercase Roman Numerals.
  19. Under Page Numbering, select Start at to have the page numbers start counting from this Section.
  20. Click OK to return to the footer.
  21. Click the On the Page Number choose current position.
  22. Press your left arrow key once to move in front of the page number.
  23. Press the tab key to move the number to the middle of the footer (By default, there is a Center tab set in the footer style.)
  24. Go back to Edit Footer under Footer button
  25. Click the Show Next button to jump to the next footer. It should read: Footer Section 3.
  26. Turn off Link to Previous using the Link to Previous button on the Header/Footer Tools ribbon.
  27. Click Page Number Format under the Page Number button.
  28. The number format should already be Arabic numerals; choose Start At and change the Start At to 1. Click OK.
  29. Click Show Next to move the cursor to Footer-Section 4.
  30. Turn off Link to Previous.
  31. Change the number format to capital letters.
  32. Click Close on the Header/Footer Tools Ribbon.
  33. Switch to Print Layout and make sure your page numbers are correct.

 

Practice: Format Page Numbers - Manual Method 2
  1. If you went through manual method 1, close that document without saving and reopen it.
  2. Otherwise, repeat steps one through 11 above.

--

  1. Click on the Insert tab. (What follows is manual method 2 to insert a page number)
  2. Click on the Footer button and choose Edit Footer. Your cursor should be in the footer of the first page.
  3. Notice that it says: Footer Section 1. We do not want a page number on the first page so leave it blank.
  4. Click the Show Next button to jump to the next footer. It should read: Footer Section 2
  5. Notice on the right that it says Link to Previous.
  6. Click the Link to Previous button in the Ribbon. This disconnects Section 2 footer from Section 1 footer.
  7. Press the Tab key to move to the center of the page (Center tab setting in the footer).
  8. Type PAGE \@ roman and select what you just typed.
  9. Press Ctrl+F9 to put field braces around it: { PAGE \@ roman }.
  10. Press the F9 key to see your page number: ii
  11. Select that and under the Page Number button select Format Page Number.
  12. Choose to Start At i. (You could have started with a simple PAGE field and edited its format to Roman numeral as well.)
  13. Press OK.
  14. Use the Show Next button to move to the Section 3 footer.
  15. Unlink the footer from the previous Section.
  16. Select the page number and format it to start at 1. Note that is already in Arabic number format.
  17. Click Show Next to move the cursor to Footer-Section 4.
  18. Turn off Link to Previous.
  19. Change the number format to capital letters.
  20. Click Close on the Header/Footer Tools Ribbon.
  21. Switch to Print Layout and make sure your page numbers are correct.

The above manual methods are important if you want to add page numbers to already existing footers (or Headers). What follows is the simplest way, but it will replace existing Headers or footers.

 

Practice: Format Page Numbers - Insert Method
  1. If you went through manual method 1 or 2, close that document without saving and reopen it.
  2. Otherwise, repeat steps one through 11 above.

--

  1. Click on the Insert tab. (What follows is the Insert Page Number Method.)
  2. Click on the Footer button and choose Edit Footer. Your cursor should be in the footer of the first page.
  3. Notice that it says: Footer Section 1. We do not want a page number on the first page so leave it blank.
  4. Click the Show Next button to jump to the next footer. It should read: Footer Section 2
  5. Notice on the right that it says Link to Previous.
  6. Click the Link to Previous button in the Ribbon. This disconnects Section 2 footer from Section 1 footer.
  7. On the Page Number button select: Bottom of Page - Plain Number 2
  8. Notice this gives you a number centered in the bottom of the page.
  9. Select that number and on the Page Number drop down select Format Page Number.
  10. Choose lower-case Roman numerals and start at i.
  11. Press OK.
  12. Use the Show Next button to move to the Section 3 footer.
  13. Unlink the footer from the previous Section.
  14. Select the page number and format it to start at 1. Note that is already in Arabic number format.
  15. Click Show Next to move the cursor to Footer-Section 4.
  16. Turn off Link to Previous.
  17. Change the number format to capital letters.
  18. Click Close on the Header/Footer Tools Ribbon.
  19. Switch to Print Layout and make sure your page numbers are correct.

You can close and delete your practice document.

Remove Page Numbers

The Remove Page Numbers command under the Page Number button is a bit flakey. It will remove all page numbers that were inserted using the Insert at Top of Page, Bottom of Page and Page Margin commands. These are specially marked by Word as page numbers in some way. Those inserted manually or by "Current Location" are not so marked and will not be removed by this command.

Others are Page fields. { page } Note, all page numbers are fields. The Page Numbers Inserted with locations are also inside specially marked regions that can be removed using the command.

To see the field codes and remove them, go into the header/footer containing the page numbers and press Alt+F9. Delete the field. Then press Alt+F9 to again show field results instead of codes.

Note also, if you use the different header/footer options so you have multiple headers in a Section, the Remove Page Numbers command will only remove the page number in the header/footer that applies to the current page.

 

 

See also Automatic Page Numbers Across Multiple Documents

Columns
Columns are a creature of Sections, like Headers and footers. The command to set them up is found under the Page Layout tab.

More Columns... gives you a dialog box which gives you even more control.

Columns Dialog Box - Microsoft Word Columns - Sections

Apply to - columns Microsoft Word - SectionsThe "Apply to:" choice of "This point forward" allows you to insert a continuous Section break where you are and make the rest of the current Section have the column settings you want. The default is "This Section." Another choice is to have the column layout apply to the entire document. The Start new column checkbox is one way to insert a column break before the bottom of the page. If you select the Left or Right column preset it unchecks the Equal column width setting. Line between inserts a vertical line between columns.

You can set the number of columns to a larger number if you want. Note though that more than 3 columns is not practical on a portrait layout letter-size page. Unchecking the Equal column width setting lets you manually change your column width. The spacing between columns is preset at 0.5." Adjusting this is a way to get all of your text on one page or fill out a page.

The settings shown in the dialog box above are the default with 1 column. So, in a sense, you always have a column setting in Word.

Other ways to insert a Column Break are the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+Enter or under Breaks on the Page Layout tab.

Note that a column break, like a manual page break, will be contained within a Word paragraph, so text immediately following the break will be in the same paragraph as that which precedes the break. If you change the paragraph formatting, it will change for the entire Word paragraph.

Practice: Change Formatting to Columns
  1. Open the document with three Sections from the Header/Footer Exercises.
  2. Press Ctrl+End to go to the end of the document.
  3. Press the ENTER after the Heading "Main Document"
  4. Type =rand(30, 4) and press ENTER.
  5. Go back to the point just under the heading.
  6. Under the Page Layout tab, click on the Columns button and select the option for two columns.
  7. Notice that if you were in Draft view you are now in Print Layout view.
  8. Notice that your heading is inside the columns.
  9. Press Ctrl+Z to undo the column formatting.
  10. Click on the Columns button and this time select "More Columns..." to bring up the dialog box.
  11. Select the two column preset and under "Apply to" select "This Point Forward."
  12. Click OK.
  13. Notice that your Heading is now outside the Column formatting. You have just created a new (continuous) Section break.
  14. Try clicking the option to have three columns instead of two under the Columns button. Note that it applies to the current Section.
  15. Click in the middle of the page in the middle of a paragraph.
  16. Reopen the Columns dialog box by selecting "More Columns..." under the Columns button.
  17. Select the two column preset and under "Apply to" select "This Point Forward."
  18. Click OK.
  19. Note that you now have a three column Section followed by a two column Section.
  20. Note that the Section break was inserted in the middle of your paragraph, even in the middle of a sentence!

The Column set up in Word is the equivalent to "Snaking columns" in Word Perfect. To get parallel columns in Word you would use Tables.

Page Size

The size of Pages is a Section setting as well. You can find the drop-down for this under the Layout tab (the first Layout tab if more than one is showing).

If you want this to only apply to a certain page or text, insert section breaks before and after the area where you want it to apply and pull up the Page Setup dialog.
In either the Mac or the Windows version you can get to this by using the Custom Page Size... choice.
In the Windows version you can also use the dialog launcher in the bottom right corner of the Page Setup Group.

Set your size and tell Word to apply it to This Section.
Note that even if you have selected text and the Apply to: box gives you the choice of selected text, your size setting will apply to either the whole document or the current section.
With Margin and Column settings, this same dialog will create new section breaks for selected text. This is not the case with page size.

 

Printing With  Multiple Sections - CK note

Word tracks pages for printing purposes by the page numbers assigned by Word, itself. To print pages 3-5 you would enter 3-5. (These page numbers may or may not be what is displayed.) Since page numbering can restart with each Section, it is easy to have multiple pages numbered 1 or 2, or even 10 or 30! To tell Word which pages you want to print, you need to designate not only the page number, but the Section number. You have to give both page and Section for all numbers in a range.

bulletTo print page 1 of Section 3, you would enter p1s3
bulletTo print pages 1-1 and 2-2, you would enter p1s1,p2s2
bulletTo print pages 1-3 in the first Section, you would enter p1s1-p3s1
bulletTo print all of Section 4, you would enter s4
bulletTo print a rarge of pages across Sections, you would enter p5s2-p3s5

Use your Status Bar to see what Section you are in. If it isn't showing Sections, right-click on it.

 

See this MVP FAQ page or  Microsoft Help article for more. It applies to all versions of Word starting with Word 2003 even though it does not mention recent versions.

 

Page Numbering / Headers and Footers with Cover Pages in Word 2007-2021

This is included in the Sections chapter to alert the reader that Cover Pages can create anomalies in page numbering and Headers and footers.

Word 2007-2021 allow you to insert a "Cover Page" in a Word document. There can be only one Cover Page and it is always at the very beginning of the document. This is true no matter where you are in the document when you insert it.

The command to insert a Cover Page is on the Insert tab.

Cover Pages Gallery Word

Your Pages Group on the Insert tab may be compressed into a drop-down.

What happens to your page numbering (and headers/footers) when you insert or remove a cover page is different depending on the Version of Word you are using.

In Word 2007 the new cover page will be Page 1 of the document and will be included in the NumPages field numbering (the "y" of the Page X of Y structure). In later versions it is Page 0. In Word 2010 & 2016- 2021 (365), it is not included in the total page number (NUMPAGES) field. In Word 2013 it is included in the NUMPAGES field.

Insertion of a Cover Page will make the setting for Section 1 of the document's header/footer "different first page." If that setting was already checked and there is already content in those areas, it will appear on the Cover Page unless occluded by Cover Page content. If the Cover Page is later removed, the "different first page" setting for that section will be unchecked and any content in that header/footer will be deleted from the document in Word 2007-2010. In Word 2013-2021 the option is unchecked but any different-first page header/footer content remains in the document, even though not displayed. If you add a new cover page/replacing this one, it is the same as removing a cover page and then inserting one. Again, any first-page header/footer content will be deleted in Word 2007-2010 by removal of a Cover Page.

If you have different even and odd Headers/footers, the Header/footer displayed on the page following the Cover Page will be that for an even numbered page in Word 2007 and this page will be numbered "2;" in Word 2010-2021 the header/footer for the page following the Cover Page will be for an odd-numbered page and this page will be numbered "1."

The document property "Pages" will always include the cover page in its count, regardless of the version of Word involved. If in a page x of y header or footer, you always need y to not count the cover page, you should use that instead in a computation field "Page { Page } of { = { DocProperty Pages } - 1 }}".

Many, but not all, Cover Pages include graphics or Text Boxes that cover up any Header or footer that would otherwise display and print.

I recently tried creating my own Cover Page, and adding that to the Cover Page Gallery. It works the same as the ones distributed with Word. This was in Word 2021 but should work in version 2016 and later. When creating the Cover Page Building Block no manual page break was included in the selection. The Cover Page Building Block insertion process supplies the page break.

For more on doing this, please see Where Can Building Blocks Be Stored?

See also: Front cover images in Microsoft Word report templates by ShaunaKelly

 

Watermarks in Word 2007-2021 (CK Note)

Insert Watermark tooltip in Word 2013A Watermark is an element that appears behind text and is usually faint (semi-transparent). It is often text but may be an image. The Watermark feature was divorced from Backgrounds beginning with Word 2007. Its placement on the Page Layout Tab (Word 2007-2010) or Design Tab (Word 2013-2021/365) is intended to makes it more accessible. It is placed in a Header. Watermarks are stored in the Building Blocks (which may be stored in various places including templates).

They are discussed in this page because they are a part of a Header and problems with Watermarks equate to problems with Headers. (Except if no Watermarks show up in the Watermarks gallery; that is a problem with the building blocks file.)

A Watermark is inserted from the Design Tab (Page Layout Tab in Word 2007-2010) - not the Insert Tab. A Gallery should be shown when you click on the button. At the bottom of the Gallery are other choices.

The screenshot above shows the default Watermarks gallery. You can choose one of those four, or create your own by clicking on "Custom Watermark." (One of my custom Watermarks is hidden by the box above.) When you go to Custom Watermark, you get the dialog box shown below.

Note that you can type text or choose a picture. You can also use the dialog box to remove a Watermark inserted by Word. If text, you can color it, the default is Gray semi-transparent. You can have the text shown as horizontal or semitransparent. I typed in "ATTORNEY WORK PRODUCT" and left the default settings for diagonal gray transparent text. The result is shown below.

You can save a Custom Watermark in the Watermarks Building Blocks Gallery using that Menu command. Note that you can save it in the default building blocks file or in a template. The templates available will include any global templates that are currently loaded that already have at least one Building Block as well as the attached document template. For more, see Where can Building Blocks be stored? My preference is to store in a global template.

While in Word 2010-2021 there is a line on the Gallery menu for more Watermarks from Office.com, I have not found any as of this writing (October 26, 2023); I do not expect this to change.

An image or picture can also be used as a Custom Watermark. Images can include photos, clip art, Word Art or other drawings.

See also: Working With Watermarks - and Insert a Watermark Microsoft Support - Made for Word 2013 and later but good for other versions. For Word 2007 and 2010, use the Page Layout tab rather than the Design Tab.

The font used for Custom Text Watermarks will be the font used for the Normal style, which is usually the default Theme body font.

Text Watermarks are WordArt. If you edit the Header and click on one, you can use WordArt tools to edit it.
If you want to change the text, use the Edit Text button. This allows you to change both the text and the font/size.

Edit WordArt dialog used to edit Watermarks

See also: How to Create and Save Your Own Custom Watermark by legal office guru Deborah Savadra (video)

Troubleshooting Watermarks

Key Points:

bulletThe Remove Watermark command (under the Watermark button, under the Gallery) will remove all Watermarks in a document that were inserted using the Watermark button.
bulletIf you have a complex Header setup before you insert Watermarks, you will have a complex problem inserting or modifying Watermarks.
bulletWatermarks are in Headers. That means you see a faded version of them when editing your document, if you see them at all. They will show up in printed versions and pdf.
They will not show up in the editing view of the browser or mobile versions of Word, they will show up in the Reading view.

Problems that can arise and some work-arounds:

  1. If you are having a problem with Watermarks you need to understand how Headers work because Watermarks are in the Header. Headers are Section properties, so Watermarks are part of Sections as well.
  2. Insertion of a Watermark using the Watermarks feature will replace any existing Watermark that was inserted previously using the Watermarks feature.
    This is true regardless of how many Sections are present and whether any header/footer options are in use and whether or not they are linked.
  3. If the Headers in different Sections are not linked at the time a Watermark is inserted, the Watermark will be inserted into only the first Section and Sections with Headers linked to that Section.
  4. If there was previously a Watermark in that type of header (primary/first-page/even-page) in a different unlinked section, the new watermark will replace it in that section regardless of where you are when you make the insertion.
  5. You will need to go into the first Section Header (edit it) and select the Watermark image. Copy that to the Clipboard and paste it in unlinked Headers.
  6. You can, though, have multiple images that look and act like Watermarks - even in the same Headers - so long as they are not placed there by the Watermark button in Word.
  7. If you want a Watermark on only one page, you must manually place the image behind the text in the body of the document - not in a Header or footer if the Header or footer covers more than one page.
  8. You check "remove Watermark" and nothing happens or the Watermark continues to show on some pages. This is because some of the Watermarks you are seeing were inserted as graphics and not directly by using the Insert Watermark button. (See above)
  9. You want vertical text - not Horizontal or Diagonal - or some other variation. Use WordArt to create what you want and then either insert it directly or save the WordArt as a picture and then insert it using the Watermark function as a picture. (If you do the latter, you will not be able to edit it in Word.)
Inserting a Watermark on only the first page of a multi-page document (or on every page except the first page)
  1. Remember, Watermarks are images that are in Headers. If you use the different first page setting for your Header
    before
    you insert the Watermark, it will appear only in the Header used for the page on which you insert the Watermark.
  2. That is, if you use the Insert Watermark command when you are on the first page, that Watermark will appear only on the
    first page of that multi-page document. Again, the different first page setting must be in effect at that time.
  3. If after you insert the Watermark, you switch on the different first page setting, the Watermark will disappear from your first page!
    It will appear on all following pages in that Section.
  4. If you have multiple Sections in the document, be aware of the link to previous setting for each Header in each Section
    (remember, every Section has settings for three different Headers, whether they are displayed or not).
Inserting Watermarks on even or odd pages.
  1. Remember, Watermarks are images that are in Headers. If you use the different odd and even setting for your Header
    before
    you insert the Watermark, it will appear only in the Header used for the page on which you insert the Watermark.
  2. That is, if you use the Insert Watermark command when you are on an even-numbered page, that Watermark will appear
    only on the even-numbered pages of that multi-page document. Again, the different first page setting must be in effect at that time.
  3. If after you insert the Watermark, you switch on the different even and odd page setting, the Watermark will disappear from your
    odd-numbered page! It will appear on all even-numbered pages in that Section.
  4. If you have multiple Sections in the document, be aware of the link to previous setting for each Header in each Section
    (remember, every Section has settings for three different Headers, whether they are displayed or not).
Multiple Watermarks in a Word document
  1. You cannot do this using the Watermark feature alone.
  2. You can do it by copying a Watermark image (while editing the header in which it appears) and copying it to a different header.
  3. If you do this and later insert a Watermark anywhere in the document using the Watermark feature, all other ones will disappear.
    If you do this and use the Remove Watermark command, all Watermarks created by the Watermark feature, including the pasted ones, will disappear.
  4. You can do it by using any other image (one created by WordArt or another picture) and putting that in the applicable header.
    If you do this, it will not be manipulated using the Watermark feature. You will need to manipulate it manually.
    You will probably want to change the transparency or fade it.
  5. I recommend that if you want multiple Watermarks or want them when using the Different-First-Page or Different-Even-and-Odd options,
    that you use the method of pasting graphics into those headers.
  6. Likewise, if you want different Watermarks in different sections, I recommend you use the graphics method, not the Watermark tool.
  7. See Watermark Anomalies Demonstration
Multiple Watermarks - a different method, of sorts
  1. Remember that Watermarks are images in the Header
  2. You can insert one Watermark and change its name for Word, so it does not think of it as a Watermark. (thank you Jay Freedman)
  3. Insert the first Watermark using the Watermark insertion tools in Word.
  4. On the Home tab, click Select > Selection Pane.
  5. The watermark will be listed in the pane as "PowerPlusWaterMarkObject" (for a text object) or "WordPictureWaterMark" (for a picture object) followed by a large random number.
  6. Click that name twice to make it editable, and change it to anything else -- then Word won't recognize it as a watermark.
    Note, you cannot use Delete Watermark on this now.
  7. Now you can add another Watermark on a different page.
Preventing a Watermark from being deleted

Realistically speaking you cannot. There are, however, steps you can take.

If you want a watermark that can't be removed, send a piece of paper with a genuine watermark.

Sorry.

bulletRule #1: If they can see it, they can copy it.
bulletRule #2: If they can copy it, they can modify it.

I expand on these in the my page: No Copies - No Editing

Send as pdf and it will be harder to remove than than in Word format. 
Convert it somehow to a jpg and it becomes even more difficult. You can print and use a scanner to do this. You could, then, insert that jpg into a Word file.

That said, there are some things that you can do in Word.

Watermarks in Word are dimmed images in the header or footer. They have a "watermark" tag on them so that they can be manipulated using the Watermark feature.

You can create your own non-Word watermark by inserting your own image in a header or footer. Then it can't be minapulated using the Watermark commands.

You can create a watermark in Word, then copy the image to the clipboard and delete the watermark using the watermark command. Then re-insert the image (in the header).

You can protect the document for filling in forms or otherwise restrict editing, there are ways around these, though.

One of the best ways I've seen proposed is to put the watermark in a picture-picker Content Control and then set the properties of that Content Control to not allow deletion or editing.

You can use a macro to limit access to the header. However, that only works if the recipient allows macros to run. Most do not.

See:

bullet No Copies - No Editing - No Changes
bullet Two Ways to Prevent Others From Deleting a Watermark
Can't delete the Watermark

If you can't delete a watermark, it was not inserted using the insert Watermark feature and is an older style Watermark which is an image (possibly words in a textbox) in the header.

It is also possible that this is in the footer, although that is far less likely.

You can select the image (textbox) and delete it.

See also: The Watermark that will not die! by legal office guru Deborah Savadra

Watermark Troubleshooting continued

Problem: There are no options in the Gallery when I click on the Watermark button

There are  no options for different stock Watermarks when you press the Watermark button. What it says is just More Watermarks from office.com and save selection as Watermark.

Watermarks are stored as building blocks. Sometimes this file can become corrupted.

Here is how to handle it. The solution is a little different depending on your Word version.

Problem: Watermark does not appear on all pages.

Watermarks are a creature of Headers. If you have multiple Headers previous ones may be blocking your Watermark.

  1. Go into the Header on the page where the Watermark appears.
  2. Click on the Watermark image to select it.
  3. Copy it.
  4. Go to the Header on a page missing the Watermark.
  5. Paste and position it.
  6. Repeat 4 and 5 as needed.

Problem: I want a Watermark on only one page

Remember, Watermarks are a creature of Headers.

If you want your Watermark to appear only on one page there are several ways you can do this. First, you could make a one-page Section with the Watermark and make sure that Headers in other Sections are not linked to that one.

Probably simpler, is to cut the Watermark (it is a graphic of some sort, perhaps WordArt) from the Header and then paste it behind the text on the page where your want it instead of in the Header.

Probem: I can't get rid of a Watermark!

When you use the Remove Watermark command under the Watermark button, it will delete all Watermarks in a document that were inserted using that button.

If the Remove Watermark command does not remove a Watermark...

  1. Go to the page where the Watermark appears.
  2. Enter the Header for editing.
  3. Click on the Watermark to select it.
  4. Press the Delete key.

Problem: Watermark Does Not Show Up in Print View (but does print)

Watermarks inserted by Word are image files. If they are text, they are WordArt or in a Text Box. Word treats them as images.

There is a setting in Word dating back to Word 95, at least, that lets you not show images on the screen. This speeds up display and was more important in the past than it perhaps is now.

Check this Option setting. Here is the dialog box from Word 2013:

Watermarks Microsoft Word Help

 

Page Margins

Page Margins are Section properties. They are set in the Page Layout dialog. To change the indents of one or more paragraphs, the paragraph formatting for left and right indents should be set, not the page margins.

One feature allowed for margins is mirror margins. This is intended to work with different even-and-odd Headers/footers. It allows for a binding area in documents printed duplex. However, it does not work in Landscape Sections if what is desired is to have the binding edge along the long side of the paper. That would require mirroring of top and bottom margins.
A workaround is described in Mirrored Margins in Landscape Pages in Microsoft Word.

Gutters

Gutters in Word are set for binding on the left edge of text, even though when using right-to-left text the gutter should be on the right, there is no setting for this.
Use mirrored margins instead. A workaround is described here: Shifting Gutter Position to Right Using Shapes in the Headers or Mirrored Margins - Answers page

More on margins to follow.

Page Borders can be Section Properties and set for different first page

Page Borders are accessed through the Borders and Shading Dialog Box.

Page Layout Tab (Word 2007-2010) / Design Tab (Word 2013+) > Page Borders

Page Borders in Microsoft Word help

As you can see in the screenshot above, you can apply the page border to the entire document, to the current Section, or to either the first page of the section or every page except the first page of the section.

Which Section am I in?

You can have Word tell you which section you are in.

In which section is the insertion point?

A page can have multiple sections. The insertion point is where the next letter you type will go.

The status bar at the bottom of the page can reflect the Section in which the insertion point is found.
If this is not showing in your Status Bar, right click on it and check Section.

In which section is the page?

You can use the Section Field to give you the section number. This is similar to the Page Field.
This can be used in a header or footer.

If there is a continuous section break on the page, it will give you the section in which the definition of the footer is found.

Trouble Shooting Sections, Headers and Footers, Page Numbering

Missing Page Number / Header / Footer / Watermark Commands - greyed out - Charles Kenyon

Why is the spacing off in the footer of a landscape page?

  1. Check first to see if there are Section breaks setting off the landscape page.
  2. Even though the footer will look the "Link to Previous," that option must be turned off.
  3. After turning it off, move the center tab to 5.5 inches and the right tab to 10 inches.
  4. Continue to the following Section and, again, turn off "Link to Previous."

The page number was formatted to show A, B, C. It's not appearing in the footer.

Although the number was formatted correctly, it was not inserted. First format the number to get what is needed; then insert the number in the footer.

I can't see the Headers and footers.

If you are in Draft View, go to the Insert tab and Click on Header or Footer to Edit. If you switch to Print Layout View, double-click in the Header or footer and the Header & Footer Tools will be accessible.

The Section break doesn't allow me to have both portrait and landscape text on the same page.

Unfortunately, Word will not allow this by the use of a Section break. To achieve the desired effect, you must insert a text box.

I have the codes for Page 1 of 3 (x of y) in my Header/footer. It is different on the screen from when it prints out. Or, I get Page 1 of 1, Page 2 of 2, Page 3 of 3, etc.

Unfortunately this feature doesn't work very well. There are a number of reasons for this, including background printing and the timing of field updates. The best work-around that I have heard of is to use a Cross-Reference for the "Y" of Page X of Y. Put a bookmark on the last page of your document - at the very end - and use Insert | Cross-Reference to insert the page number on which that bookmark may be found. Other things to do include:

  1. Turn off background printing.
  2. Turn off display of hidden text if you have any in your document.
  3. View the document in Print Preview (Page Preview) mode including the last page of the document to force an update of the fields. 

For more on this see: http://www.addbalance.com/word/pagexofy.htm. For more on bookmarks and cross-references see Complex Legal Documents.

My Insert Header / Footer menu doesn't give me any options.

There are  no options for different Headers / footers. What it says is just More Headers / footers from office.com and save selection as Header / footer.

Header and footer options are stored as building blocks. Sometimes this file can become corrupted.

Here is how to handle it. The solution is a little different depending on your Word version.

I set my document for a "Different First Page" but that first-page Header/footer is showing up on pages in the middle of my document.

Or, I have "Different First Page" set so I don't have a Header/footer on the first page but all of my pages or a lot of my pages besides the first page have no Header/footer.

Do you have Section breaks? Each Section has its own first page. The settings for Headers/footers are separate for each Section but are often linked so that the Header/footer in the first Section is continued throughout the document.

Actually, each Section can have up to three different Headers (and three different footers), which is the case if you have selected "Different odd and even" and "Different first page" (also on the Header & Footer Tools Design tab). When you have multiple Headers (footers), each type must be separately unlinked from its "neighbor" in the preceding Section. This gets especially complex when you have multiple Sections on one page. (Thanks to Stefan Blom, MVP for putting this concept so well.)

My document has numerous Sections. How did they get there?

Word can insert Sections without notice whenever you:

bulletChange Margins (not Indents, Margins)
bulletChange the Page Numbering
bulletChange Page Orientation
bulletChange Column Arrangement

Another way to end up with a lot of Sections is by working with a converted document (i.e. Word Perfect, pdf, OpenOffice, Scanned Text) or text copied from a converted document or from a Web page. The conversion software aims to make a document in Word that looks like the original. However, there is no conversion software that handles Section formatting at all well, as far as I know as of July 1, 2014. This includes documents that started as Word documents, were converted to pdf, and then converted back. The conversion software can make every change or even apparent change in paragraph indents as a margin change. You can end up with a three-page document with fifty Sections!

If you want to edit such text, you are often far ahead by simply copying as plain text and doing your formatting using Styles to duplicate the original formatting.

Missing Sections - Ghost Headers and footers - Page Number mysteriously restarts

"Alright, so I have this problem and it's been driving me absolutely INSANE for the past couple hours. I want to add page numbers but for some reason, it re-starts from 1 in the middle of the document."

"I get strange Headers/footers popping up in the middle of my document."

"I have a different Header/footer in the middle of my document." (Duplicates the First-Page Header/footer from earlier in the document, but this is not the first page!)

These complaints all have to do with there being a Section break in your document, usually just before the problem. You can improve your ability to deal with these by displaying non-printing formatting characters in your document. However, sometimes a Section break will be concealed at the end of a line in Print View.

It also can be helpful to try editing in Draft View.

If all else fails, you can set page numbering continuous throughout the document and then restart it as needed. Continuous Page Numbering Add-In

Every Section has its own first page. Every Section has three Headers/footers coded in even if you do not see any of them: First Page, Odd Page, Even Page. These can be continued in a subsequent Section. The setting for "Different First Page" is a Section setting. The setting for "Different Even and Odd" is a document setting.

A single page can have three Sections (or more) with the Headers/footers set in the middle Section not displaying at all but perhaps showing up in a linked Section that follows. Sometimes it helps to temporarily insert a couple of page breaks in the middle of a Section to display the Headers/footers for that Section.

See What happens when you start a new Section?

See Header/Footer settings recap.

This tool can help you figure out what is happening:
Word Toolkit for Advanced Management of Headers and Footers

I know I can have a different Header/footer on the first page of my document / Section. Can I have a different one on the last page?

Yes, but it takes some work with fields. This is beyond the scope of this article but involves using an IF field to test if the page is the last page of the document or Section and give a different result depending on the answer. See the Fields article to see an example.

My Insert Page Number menu doesn't give me any options.

There are  no options for different page numbers. What it says is just More page numbers from office.com and save selection as page number.

Page number options are stored as building blocks. Sometimes this file can become corrupted. Here is how to handle it. The solution is a little different depending on your Word version.

I made a change in my Section 2 Header / Footer and the Section 1 Header / Footer changed too.

You need to unlink the Header / footer. First, though, Copy your new contents to the Clipboard. Then press Ctrl+Z until it is back to what it looked like before you made the changes. Then unlink the Header / footer and Paste your changes back. Remember, each Header/Footer's linked state is independent of all others. The default setting is to have them linked.

The first page is 2 even though I have the document set to start page numbering at 1. There is only one section. If I start page numbering at 0, the first page is 0.

(Status bar showing page 2 as first page of document.)

The section start is set for an even page. This is controlled on the Layout tab of the Page Setup Dialog.

Again, the easiest way to get to this dialog is to double-click in the horizontal ruler.

I added a next-page Section break to my document. It should have been a continuous Section break instead.

The way to handle this is through the Page Layout Dialog. The simplest way to access this is by double-clicking on the Ruler. It can also be accessed through the Page Layout tab's dialog box dropdown. On the Layout tab is a dropdown that lets you change the type of the current Section.

sections type selection dialog microsoft word header footer

The first page is 2 even though I have the document set to start page numbering at 1. There is only one section. If I start page numbering at 0, the first page is 0.

(Status bar showing page 2 as first page of document.)

The section start is set for an even page. This is controlled on the Layout tab of the Page Setup Dialog.

Help section break Microsoft Word Even Page

Again, the easiest way to get to this dialog is to double-click in the horizontal ruler. See Even Page section break.

How to Delete a Next-Page Section Break That Won't Delete (and retain formatting)

This becomes a problem mostly at the end of a document where there is a blank page that the user does not want. It is caused by making a change in Section settings like margins, or orientation to selected text. Changes to these settings for selected text require insertion of a next-page Section break because these settings can't apply to less than a page.

Word will not let you delete this section break if the settings are different before and after the section break.

The way to fix this is to make these settings the same before and after the break.

Click in the document so your insertion point is before the section break:

  1. Record a macro in which you visit each of the page layout dialogs
  2. the margin dialog,
  3. the page size dialog,
  4. the Columns dialog,
  5. and the orientation dialog.
  6. OK out of each dialog box.
  7. End recording of your macro.

Then move your insertion point beyond the section break and run the macro you just recorded.

Convert the next-page section break to a continuous break (above) or insert a continuous section break before the next-page section break to preserve headers and footers.

Then if you inserted a continuous break, select and delete the next-page section break.

Paul Edstein, MVP (macropod) posted a macro here to merge sections so that a section break can be deleted without changing formatting. I believe it does the steps outlined above. Although posted in 2011, it should work in all versions of Word; it works in Word 2021/365.

 

How to have Word tell you which Section you are in.

Word 2003 Status Bar - Sections Help

Word 2007 default status bar does not show sections

 

The status bar can tell you which Section you are in. Note that the default status bar shown above does not! This is also true in Word 2010-2021/365.

To get what you want displayed you need to right-click on the status bar. You will then be able to add/delete things from it.

Change the Status Bar in Word to show Section Number - Help

After checking "Section" you would see the following:

Sections Status Bar Microsoft Word Help

For anyone having trouble with this and using Word 2010 or later, I strongly recommend downloading the Word Toolkit for Advanced Management of Headers and Footers from Lene Fredborg's site.
It was developed by Shauna Kelly and implemented by other Word MVPs and gives access to the following tool:

Headers Footers Help Microsoft Word

Recap of Header/Footer settings
bulletThis is confusing. This is because it really is complex to allow users the flexibility they need. If you don't need that complexity, probably you will never see it.
 
bulletTo understand what is happening in headers and footers you need to know about Sections and Section breaks. Header and footer coding is stored in the Section break that follows the Section.
 
bulletYou probably want to turn on display of non-printing formatting marks or work in normal or draft view so you can see Section breaks. Show non-printing characters.
 
bulletSection breaks do not always start a new page. Section breaks may be inserted by Word without notice when you change columns, margins, page numbering, or page orientation within a document.
 
bullet

There are four kinds of Section breaks; the most common are continuous and new page. The other two start a new Section on either an even-numbered or an odd-numbered page. The blank page that can be generated by such a Section break will not have Headers or footers; it will be a blank page. If you need Headers/footers on these pages, Microsoft recommends insertion of a manual page break immediately before the Section break to force a blank page with Headers/footers. Otherwise, see John McGhie's article: Create a non-blank, even-numbered page at the end of a chapter
 

bulletManual page breaks do not change Header/footer settings. New-page Section breaks can, as can continuous (no new page) Section breaks. (All Section breaks carry Header/footer settings.)
 
bulletEvery Section will have three different Headers and three different footers even if you never see them. Because of this, and because there can be multiple Sections on a single page, it may be easiest to temporarily expand each Section to at least three pages (to see the First-Page, Even-Page, and Odd-Page Headers and footers. This way you can see what is in each Header/footer and what the settings are. You can temporarily expand the number of pages using manual page breaks (Ctrl+Enter)
 
bulletSection formatting is contained in the Section break that follows the Section. If you delete all Section breaks you can find in a document your formatting will be contained in the last paragraph mark in the document, which is the last Section break.
 
bulletIf there is a Section break on a page, changes to the Header/footer that follow that Section break may not have any effect on the Header for the page that contains the Section break. (Those settings or changes are stored in the next Section break, the one governing that Section.) Whether changes to the next header change the previous one depend on the Link-to-previous setting of the next header.
 
bulletIf you have a Section break on a page, the header and footer for that page will be governed by the settings for the first Section on that page, even if that Section contains no text (i.e., the page starts with a Section break).
 
bulletThe Link-to-previous setting is specific to the type of Header/footer: Primary Header, First-Page Header, and Even-Page Header, Primary Footer, First-Page Footer, Even-Page Footer. Link to previous is the default setting.
 
bulletLink to previous is specific to Headers and footers (can be different). It is also specific to each type of Header/footer. That is, the first-page Header can be linked to previous but not the first-page footer and not the even-page Header. The Link-to-previous setting can be set for each Header/footer in every Section after the first. This setting can be different in each type of Header / footer in each Section.
 
bulletSince each Section has three different Headers and three different footers and the link to previous setting is specific to the type of Header or footer, each Section can have up to six different link-to-previous settings. This is true even if the Header/footer to which it applies is not visible. This is true even if the Section involved is a continuous Section in the middle of a page and has no Headers or footers displayed.
 
bulletThe different-first-page setting covers both Headers and footers and is a Section (not document) setting. This setting is carried over into a new Section started from a Section set for different-first-page.
 
bulletDifferent odd and even covers both Headers and footers and is a document (not Section) setting. Enabling this for the first time renames each "header" into the "odd-page header" and each "footer" into the "odd-page footer." The even-page headers and footers will now be displayed. They will normally be blank and you will have to add content.
 
bulletEach Section can have different settings for the distance from the edge of the page for the Sections Headers and footers. The default is .5 inches.
 
bulletSize: The page layout settings reserve room for headers and footers. Even if there is no header or footer, that reserved space will not be filled by the body text. However, if you put more in a header or footer than the space reserved, the body text will not overwrite it. The header or footer will be allowed that space. This includes space-after or space-before formatting of the line closest to the body text.
 
bulletCopying and pasting content: Since the three headers and three footers in a Section are independent of one another it is often easiest to copy from one and paste in another if you want to have the same content. I.e. you want your first-page footer to be the same as the odd-page footer. If you do this, turn on display of non-printing formatting marks and delete the extra paragraph mark after you paste.
 
bulletSee also: Quick Reference Card for Headers, Footers and Page Numbers
 
bulletSee also: Using Headers and Footers by Suzanne Barnhill, MVP - excellent and comprehensive web page
 
bulletFor anyone having trouble with this, I recommend downloading the Word Toolkit for Advanced Management of Headers and Footers from Lene Fredborg's site. It was developed by Shauna Kelly and implemented by other Word MVPs especially Bill Coan.
What Happens When You Start a New Section? What Gets Carried Over?

When you start a new Section, that Section will carry certain attributes from the preceding Section. This is true even if you started the new Section by changing columns, orientation, or margins.

bulletHeaders and footers will be linked to the previous Section's headers and footers. You can unlink them if you want.
bulletIf page numbering restarted in the existing Section, it will restart in the new Section except when the section break is a continuous section. The formatting of the page numbering will also be copied into the new Section.
bulletIf you had a header or footer set to be different first page, that will be the setting in the new Section.

Troubleshooting Watermarks

See also Troubleshooting Sections and Working with Sections

This chapter from original Legal Users Guide to Microsoft Word 2002 - document in zip format

 

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Microsoft Word Manual Users GuideCopyright 2000, Microsoft Corporation.
Copyright 2000-2002, 2004-2006, 2010-2024 Charles Kyle Kenyon
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