Modifying page numbers in Word

If you're having trouble with page numbers in Microsoft Word, you're not alone. We've received tons of comments and questions from learners like you on our Page Numbers video.

One of the most common questions is How do I restart or reformat my page numbers partway through the document? Apparently, this is a common problem for students who are working on academic papers.

Your comments prompted us to look for an answer, and we found one. Special thanks to Jessica, who discovered the solution while proofreading dissertations in her spare time.

Modifying page numbers with section breaks

The key to using different types of numbering in the same document is section breaks . Once you've added a section break to your document (you can add as many as you need), you'll be able to restart your page numbers there and/or apply a different style.

Here's an overview of the steps you need to follow. These steps should work for Word 2007, Word 2010, and Word 2013.

1. Place your cursor on the page where you want the first section to end.
2. Go to the Page Layout tab, then click the Breaks command.
3. Choose Next Page from the menu.
4. A section break will be added, creating a new section on the next page.
5. To continue, select your header or footer in the new section.
6. Go to the Design tab, and deselect the Link to Previous command.
7. Now you can modify the page numbers in your new section depending on what you need. To restart your numbering, click the Page Number command, then choose Format Page Numbers . From there, you'll be able to select Start at: 1 .
8. To reformat your numbering, select the page number, then go back to the Home tab. You can change the font, color, size, and more.

For more information, read our Page Numbers lesson from our Word 2016 tutorial.