MS Word 2007: Page Numbering After Second Page

This tutorial teaches you how to begin page numbering on any page after the second page in a document in Microsoft Office Word 2007.

To begin page numbering on the first page of a document is a simple matter. Click on the Page Number button in the Insert ribbon and select one of the various options. Then, to start the numbering on the second page, click the Different First Page box that appears on the Header and Footer > Design ribbon.

But starting the numbering after the second page is not as simple and, surprisingly, is not a task that readily presents itself to a Microsoft Office Word 2007 user.

Why exactly would you want to begin page numbering after the second page? Perhaps you have a title page plus a table of contents or a number of other front matter pages. Or there may be some unique reason specific to your document.

One way around this is to create two documents: one with the pages that won't be numbered, and one with the pages that will be numbered. However, this is a needless and awkward fix that creates extra clutter and makes it more difficult to organize your documents.

It is much easier to follow this tutorial and learn how to start the page numbering exactly where you want in a document.

To complete this tutorial, you need:

• Microsoft Office Word 2007
• Microsoft Windows operating system

This tutorial consists of two tasks:

• Create Two Sections in Your Document
• Insert Page Numbers

Create Two Sections in Your Document

To create two sections in your document:

1. Click the View tab.

2. Click the Print Layout button in the View ribbon.

Note: If the Print Layout button is already highlighted, do not click it.

3. Place your cursor at the end of the page that precedes the page on which you want the numbering to begin.

Note: For example, if you want the page numbering to begin on the fourth page of the document, place your cursor at the end of the third page.

4. Click the Page Layout tab.











5. Click the Breaks button in the Page Layout ribbon.




























6. Click Continuous from the Breaks drop down menu that appears.

Result: Your cursor now appears at the beginning of the page on which you want the page numbering to begin.

You have successfully created two sections in your document. Now, let's get those page numbers inserted.

Insert Page Numbers

To insert page numbers:

1. Click the Insert tab.











2. Click the Header or Footer button in the Insert ribbon.

Note: This is a personal choice based on whether you want page numbers to appear at the top of the page (header) or at the bottom of the page (footer). This tutorial uses the footer.

3. Click Edit Footer from the drop down menu that appears.


























4. Click the Link to Previous button that appears in the Header and Footer > Design ribbon.

Note: The goal is to ensure that the Link to Previous button is disabled, in other words, not highlighted. If the button is already not highlighted, do not click it.

5. Click the Page Number button in the Header and Footer > Design ribbon.









6. Click Format Page Numbers from the drop down menu that appears.

Result: the Page Format window opens.

7. Click the Start at: radio button, indicate at which number you want the numbering to start, and click the OK button.




















8. Click the Page Number button.












9. Click the Bottom of Page option from the drop down menu and the specific style of numbering you desire.

Note: If you chose to put the page numbers in the header, click the Top of Page option.

And there you have it: page numbering that starts on any page after the second page!