How to Put a Page Number in Microsoft Word

Adding page numbers in Microsoft Word is a straightforward process found under the Insert tab.

You can easily add page numbers to your Word document to keep your content organized and professional. The most common way is to place them in the header or footer of your pages.

Here are the basic steps:

1. Go to the Insert tab in the Ribbon.
2. In the Header & Footer group, click on Page Number.
3. A drop-down menu appears, giving you options for placement:
   • Top of Page: Places numbers in the header area.
   • Bottom of Page: Places numbers in the footer area.
   • Page Margins: Places numbers in the side margins.
   • Current Position: Places the number at your cursor's current location (less common for standard documents).
4. Hover over your chosen location (e.g., Bottom of Page) and select a style from the gallery (e.g., Plain Number 1, Plain Number 2, etc.). Word will then automatically add page numbers to your document.
5. Once the page numbers appear, you will be in the Header & Footer Tools tab. You can then Close Header and Footer by clicking the red 'X' button on the right side of the Ribbon or pressing the Esc key.

Formatting Page Numbers and Setting Start Number

Sometimes you might need to format the numbering style or specify which number the pages should start from (e.g., starting a chapter on page 1 after introductory pages). According to the process described, you can do this using the 'Format Page Numbers' option.

1. Insert the page numbers using the steps above, or if they are already inserted, double-click on a header or footer area to activate the Header & Footer Tools.
2. Go back to the Insert tab (or stay in the Header & Footer Tools Design tab if active) and click Page Number again.
3. Select Format Page Numbers... from the drop-down menu.
4. In the Page Number Format dialog box:
   • You can Select page number format: Choose the number format (e.g., Arabic numerals 1, 2, 3..., Roman numerals i, ii, iii..., letters a, b, c...).
   • Under Page numbering, you can choose to Continue from previous section (useful for multi-section documents) or Set start at:. This is where you can set start at to zero or any other number you prefer. For example, setting it to 0 means the first page will display '0', setting it to 1 means the first page will display '1', etc.
   • Click OK when you are done with the formatting.
5. Finally, similar to inserting numbers, you will need to Close Header and Footer to return to the main document view.

Utilizing the "Format Page Numbers" option provides flexibility in how your document's pages are numbered.