Applies ToWord for Microsoft 365 Word for Microsoft 365 for Mac Word for the web Word 2024 Word 2024 for Mac Word 2021 Word 2021 for Mac Word 2019 Word 2019 for Mac Word 2016

If you're printing double-sided, you may want to start page numbering at page 3. To do this, add a section break, unlink the sections, and then insert the new page number.

You might find it helpful to view formatting marks. Go to Home and select Show/Hide (¶) to turn on the display of formatting marks.

  1. Click or tap the page where you want new page numbering to begin, such as on page 3.

  2. Go to Layout > Breaks > Next Page.

  3. Double-click in the header or footer area on the first header in the new section where you want to display page numbers.

  4. Select Link to Previous to turn it off and unlink the header or footer from the previous section.

    Headers and footers are linked separately, so if your page number is in the header, turn off linking for headers. If your page number is in the footer, turn off linking for footers.

  5. Select Page Number and then pick a location and a style.

  6. Select Page Number > Format Page Numbers.

  7. To start numbering with 1, select Start at, and type 1 (otherwise, Word will automatically apply the actual page number).

  8. Select OK.

  9. To remove page numbers from the previous section, select any page number in that section to highlight it and press Delete. All page numbers in that section will be deleted.

  10. Select Close Header and Footer or press Esc to exit .

To start page numbers on a new volume where the last one left off do this. Add headers or footers with page numbers. Select the header or footer in the new doc, and go to Page Number > Format Page Numbers, and select Start at. Type a new number, such as 53 if the last volume ended at 52. Select OK. Select Close Header and Footer, or double-click anywhere outside the header or footer area.

If you're printing double-sided, you may want to start page numbering at page 3. To do this, add a section break, unlink the sections, and then insert the new page number.

  1. Click or tap in the document where you want to insert a section break.

  2. Go to Layout > Breaks > Next Page.

    (Make sure you don't select Page; this will insert a new blank page in your document.)

  3. Double-click in the header or footer area where you want to display page numbers.

  4. Select Link to Previous to turn it off and unlink the header or footer from the previous section.

  5. Select Page Number > Page Number and then choose the alignment and position you want.

  6. Select Page Number > Format Page Numbers.

  7. To start numbering with 1, select Start at, and type 1 (otherwise, Word will use the actual page number).

  8. Select OK.

  9. Select Close Header and Footer or double-click anywhere outside the header or footer area.

To start page numbers on a new volume where the last one left off do this. Add headers or footers with page numbers. Select the header or footer in the new doc, and go to Page Number > Format Page Numbers, and select Start at. Type a new number, such as 53 if the last volume ended at 52. Select OK. Select Close Header and Footer, or double-click anywhere outside the header or footer area.

If you're editing a document in a web browser using Word for the web, you can't start numbering later in the document. If you have the desktop version of Word, you can make changes to your document in the desktop app by clicking Open in Word.

For more info on page numbers, see Page numbering in Word.

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