How to Add Page Numbers in Word (and Skip the Cover)
Insert, format, and position page numbers in Word, hide the number on a cover page, and restart numbering midway using a section break.
Adding page numbers in Word takes one dropdown: open the Insert tab, click Page Number, and pick a position. From there you can change the format, set the starting number, hide the number on a cover page, or start counting partway through.
Insert a page number
On the Insert tab, in the Header & Footer group, click Page Number, pick a position, then choose a style from the gallery:
| Position | Where the number lands | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Top of Page | In the header | Reports, essays |
| Bottom of Page | In the footer | Most documents |
| Page Margins | Left or right margin | Booklet-style layouts |
| Current Position | Wherever the cursor sits | Adding a number inline |
Word drops the number in and opens the header or footer for editing. Page numbers live there, so the same rules apply as when you add a header in Word — whatever you put in repeats on every page. Shortcut: pressing Alt+Shift+P inserts a page-number field right at the cursor.
Set the format and starting number
Open Page Number > Format Page Numbers for the format dialog. The Number format dropdown switches between 1, 2, 3, i, ii, iii, a, b, c, and more — useful for front matter. Under Page numbering, choose Start at and type your first number. If the cover has no number but you want the second page to read “1,” set Start at to 0.
Skip the number on a cover page
Double-click the header or footer to open the Header & Footer tab, then check Different First Page. The first page’s number disappears while the rest keep counting — the clean way to leave a title page blank without deleting anything.
Start numbering partway through
To restart numbers after a title page or contents page, add a section break. Click at the top of the page where numbering should restart, then go to Layout > Breaks > Next Page. Double-click that section’s footer and, on the Header & Footer tab, turn off Link to Previous so it stops copying the section before it. Open Page Number > Format Page Numbers, pick Start at, and enter 1. If margins shift when you split sections, our guide to changing margins in Word fixes them per section.
Removing numbers, Mac, and web
To clear every number, go to Insert > Page Number > Remove Page Numbers. On a Mac the ribbon tracks closely; open Insert > Page Number and choose Page Number from the dropdown to get a small dialog with position and a “Show number on first page” box. In Word for the web, the Insert menu handles basic placement and format but can’t restart numbering midway — use the desktop app for that.
Page-number settings travel with the document, not the app. Build the numbering once, save the file as a template — or fold it into Normal.dotm — and every new document opens with the same layout already applied, no dropdown needed.