Headers and Footers

Learning Outcomes

  • Insert text into header and footer.

Headers and footers are the top and bottom sections of the document respectively. They are separate sections from the main document, and are often used to hold footnotes, page numbers, titles, and other information.

The header and footer controls are in the Header & Footer group of the Insert tab. (Insert>Header & Footer)

A Microsoft Word document that has been zoomed in on the ribbon. A green box surrounds the header and footer feature.

The Header and Footer options each contain a dropdown menu. Click one of the Built-in options to insert it, or select Edit Header (or Edit Footer) to edit the header (or footer).

A Microsoft Word document is open with text on it. The header dropdown menu has been opened, displaying a new section. There is a large green arrow pointing towards a green box, inside of that box is the "edit header" option.

The header/footer will be represented by a dotted line. While in header/footer mode (when the dotted lines are visible), you cannot edit the main text. You can go back to editing the main text by selecting the Close Header and Footer option on the right side of the ribbon.

A Microsoft Word document is open with text on it. The display is showing that a header has been inserted.

Header

A Microsoft Word document is open with text on it. The display is showing that a footer has been inserted.

Footer

The information in the header or footer is repeated in every header or footer in the document.

A textbox is open with a few sentences visible. The display is showing that a header has been inserted.

First page

A textbox is open with a few sentences visible. The display is showing that a footer has been inserted.

Second page

Practice Question

Page Numbers

You can number the pages in your document automatically in the header/footer options with the Page Number option. A Microsoft Word document is open with text on it. Under the design tab on the Ribbon menu a green arrow is pointing towards the page number feature which has opened a new dropdown menu. This menu lists all of the places where you can insert a page number.Choose a location on the page by going to the Top of Page, Bottom of Page, Page Margins, or Current Position options and selecting an alignment. (Current Position refers to where the cursor is located.)

A Microsoft Word document is open with text on it. Under the design tab on the Ribbon menu is the page number feature which has opened a new dropdown menu. This menu lists all of the places where you can insert a page number. A new dropdown menu has been opened up from the "Bottom of Page" option. There are three choices on this menu 1.) Plain Number 1, 2.) Plain Number 2, 3.) Plain Number 3.

The page number will be repeated on every page in the header or footer, but the number will change to reflect the appropriate page number. You can also change the way the pages are numbered by going to the Format Page Numbers option.