How to Add Page Numbers in Word — Bottom Center, Skip the Cover Page, and Fix 'Page X of Y'

Add a page number at the bottom center

The practice file is a made-up book club's November report. Page 1 is a cover with just the title; pages 2–4 hold the text (each separated by a page break). There are no page numbers yet.

1. 1On the Insert tab, select Page Number (Header & Footer group).
2. 2Choose a location at the bottom of the page and a centered style — Microsoft's help simply says to choose the location and style you want.
3. 3The footer opens with the number in it. When you're done, select Close Header and Footer or press Esc (Microsoft's help).

Saved as a PDF, all four pages had 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 at the bottom center. The middle of the number sat at 105.0 mm (the exact center of a 210 mm A4 page), 21.2 mm up from the bottom edge. The cover got a 1 as well — which is where the next section starts.

Skip the cover and start at 1 — Different First Page + Start at 0

Different First Page gives page 1 a footer of its own, so the moment you check it the cover's footer is empty and its number disappears. The counting doesn't change, though — page 2 still said 2. As Microsoft's help describes, go to Page Number > Format Page Numbers and set Start at to 0: the cover becomes page 0 (not shown) and page 2 becomes 1.

In the same dialog, Start at 5 (with Different First Page off) printed 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 — handy when this document continues another one.

Trap 1 — typing the number puts 1 on every page

Double-click the footer and type 1, and on screen it looks like a page number. Saved as a PDF, though, all four pages said 1. Every page shares the same footer, so typed text never changes from page to page. The number that changes is the PAGE field that the Page Number menu inserts — delete the typed digit and insert the number from the menu.

Trap 2 — skip the cover and 'X of Y' ends at 3 / 4

The 'current page / total pages' style is a PAGE field plus a NUMPAGES (total pages) field. With PAGE / NUMPAGES in the footer the pages read 1 / 4 · 2 / 4 · 3 / 4 · 4 / 4. After skipping the cover and starting at 0 as above, pages 2–4 read 1 / 4 · 2 / 4 · 3 / 4 — the last page ended at 3 / 4. The current page now counts from 0, but the total still counts all four physical pages.

Replacing the total with the formula field { = { NUMPAGES } - 1 } made it 1 / 3 · 2 / 3 · 3 / 3. According to Microsoft's help, field braces are inserted with Ctrl+F9 (not typed), Alt+F9 toggles between field codes and results, and F9 updates a field. In the footer press Alt+F9, find { NUMPAGES }, wrap it in a second pair of braces with Ctrl+F9 so it reads = … - 1, then press F9 (the values in this lesson come from inserting the same fields by automation).

Where people get stuck

• The cover has a number: Header & Footer tab > ☑ Different First Page. The tab only appears while the footer is open (double-click it, or right after inserting a page number)
• Cover skipped but page 2 says 2: the count didn't change — Format Page Numbers > Start at 0
• Every page says 1: the number was typed — delete it and use the Page Number menu
• 'X of Y' doesn't add up: NUMPAGES counts the cover — { = { NUMPAGES } - 1 }
• Remove page numbers: Page Number > Remove Page Numbers
• Start at 1 after a table of contents, or change the style mid-document: skipping more than the first page needs section breaks; the Continue from previous section / Start at choice in the dialog applies per section (section breaks weren't measured in this lesson)

Practice

Open the practice file (4-page report, no numbers) and try this:

1. 1Insert > Page Number > a centered number at the bottom.
2. 2With the footer open: Header & Footer tab > ☑ Different First Page.
3. 3Page Number > Format Page Numbers > Start at 0 > OK.
4. 4Close the footer. If page 2 shows 1 and page 4 shows 3, you match the answer file. Saving as PDF and checking each page works too.

FAQ