Microsoft Word 2010 : Inserting Preformatted Page Numbers

You can think of headers and footers as design elements in a document because they reside in the pages’ margins, and because you can format them differently than the rest of a document to make them “pop.” But headers and footers are also informational elements that can help guide the reader through a long document by providing page numbers, section titles, and other facts about the document.

Understanding Headers, Footers, and Field Codes

A header is a line or two of text (sometimes with graphics) that occupies the top margin of a page. A footer is exactly the same thing but appears in the page’s bottom margin. Figure 1 shows a page with both a header and a footer. Headers and footers are not considered part of a document’s normal text, such as headings or paragraphs of body text. Instead, Word treats headers and footers as special elements of a document because they must appear in exactly the same place and with the same content on every page (unless you decide to use different headers and/or footers on different pages of the document, as we discuss later).

Figure 1. A page with a header and a footer.

Typically, a header or footer is formatted with a centered tab stop in the middle of the page, and a right-aligned tab stop at or near the right margin. These tabs let you insert text in three places (left-aligned, center-aligned, and right-aligned):

But a header or footer can be even simpler than this. For example, in a multiple-page document, there may be just a footer that displays only the current page number.

On the other hand, headers and footers can be design elements, containing fancy fonts, lines or borders, shading, graphics, and other items. You can format a header or footer with fonts, font sizes, colors, and many of the same tools you use to format a document’s body text. You just don’t have as much space to work in.

Headers and footers often include little pieces of programming magic, called field codes. Field codes can display many kinds of information (such as the current page number and total number of pages, date, or time), which they draw either from your computer or from the document itself. When you tell Word to display page numbers in a footer, for example, it inserts a “Page” field code at the insertion point’s location in the footer; the field code automatically updates on each page to display the right number. Word offers dozens of predefined field codes, several of which are suitable for using in a header or footer.

Inserting Preformatted Page Numbers

A simple header or footer might display only the current page number. Word has a special tool for this: the Page Number button. The Page Number button lets you choose from a variety of preformatted numbers, with different fonts, colors, and alignments. These options free you from formatting your page numbers manually.

Inserting and Formatting Page Numbers

You can place a page number in either the page’s header or footer area in the right or left margin or at the insertion point’s location. You just tell Word where to place the page number and which format to use. Here’s how:

1.	In an open document that does not already have page numbers, click the Insert tab.
2.	In the Header & Footer group, click Page Number. A drop-down menu appears, showing different options for inserting a page number.
3.	Click one of the following items on the menu: Top of Page: Inserts a Page field code in the document’s header area. Bottom of Page: Inserts a Page field code in the document’s footer area. Page Margins: Inserts a Page field code in either the right or left margin, either high or low on the page. Current Position: Inserts a Page field code at the insertion point’s location, wherever it may be in the document.
4.	When you click any of these options, a menu pops out and displays several preformatted page numbers that can be inserted at that position on the page. Figure 2 shows the menu that appears when the Bottom of Page option is clicked. Figure 2. Selecting a preformatted page number to go on the bottom of the page.
5.	Scroll through the menu to find a page number you like; then click it. Word inserts the formatted Page field code at the appropriate location. Figure 3 shows the result after adding the page number to the bottom-right of the page. Figure 3. The newly inserted page number, at the bottom-right corner of the page (in the footer area).

In Figure 3, notice that the footer area is divided from the document’s body by a dashed line that displays the Footer tag. Figure 4 shows the document’s header area, along with the Header & Footer Tools Design tab, which appears whenever you work with a header or footer.

Figure 4. The header area and the Design tab that opens when you work with a header or footer.

Page numbers, headers, and footers are visible only in Print Layout view. When the insertion point is located in the header or footer area of a page, Word switches to Header and Footer view. In this view, you can access and edit a header or footer, but the document body is grayed and cannot be accessed until you exit Header and Footer view.