We all have gone through a document in Word that we found difficult to navigate. Sometimes, the topics are hard to find because there is no table of contents. Other times there’s simply no good way to identify differences between sections of the content, making it tough to reference or find your place if you get lost.
Page numbers by themselves have been proven as valuable tools that can make any reader’s life easier. It makes it simpler to split a reading into multiple sittings, and editing or proofreading tasks are simplified because you can point someone to a specific page.
The structure of documents and spreadsheets can vary wildly, but one common design method involves putting a small amount of information on a “Title Page.” Often these titles pages either aren’t included in page counts, so writers may be looking for a way to remove the page number from the first page if they don’t need or want that information there.
With this tutorial, you’ll learn how easy and important it is to remove the page number from the first page so they’re not distracting to your audience as they read your document.
Also, by following these steps while writing your next project, you’ll learn how you can add page numbers to your documents in Google Docs and your spreadsheets in Google Sheets. Adding page numbers will save time for you during the formatting process both by expediting review tasks and by automatically numbering your pages as you add more content to the document.
It will also help document readers as they read your drafts or final product, which will improve their experience with your writing and give them a better overall impression of your work.
Why Would You Need To Omit Page Number From The Title Page?
Word, by default, starts numbering the title page of your document. Microsoft doesn’t know that the content on the first page of the document is something different than the rest of the document, so it simply applies what it assumes to be the correct formatting. But you may want it to start from the second or first page.
Microsoft Word allows this change without harming any other formatting in the document thanks to a special option for the page numbers.
In addition, the programs offer a variety of options for customizing how numbers are displayed on each individual page to suit a variety of different document types and options.
To remove the page number from your title page follow these steps.
- Open Microsoft Word.
- Select the Insert tab in the ribbon.
- Find the Header and Footer option under Insert.
- Select Page Number.
- In the drop-down menu choose Format Page Numbers.
- In the dialogue box, insert the number of the page on which you would like to start the page numbering. You can type the number in the Start at field.
- Once done, click OK for the changes to take effect.
If you haven’t added the page numbers to your document yet then you can do so with the steps in the following section.
How To Add Page Numbers To Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word is a powerful word processing application that may seem overwhelming with all of the different menus, buttons, and available formatting options. Fortunately adding page numbers to your document requires only a few short steps. Word will then automatically take care of adding and updating the page numbers on each page of your document so that you don’t have to.
Here is how to add page numbers in a Word document.
- Click Insert on the top menu.
- Click the Page Numbers button on the Insert tab.
- Choose the desired location for the page numbers.
- After selecting where you want to position your page number on the page, page numbers will be added to your entire document.
When you are selecting the desired location for your page numbers you can choose the top or bottom of the page, as well as if you want the numbers in the left, center, or right portion of that page segment.
How to Format Page Numbers in Microsoft Word
If you want to change the font, color, or style of page numbers on Microsoft Word, follow these steps.
- Double click the page number in the header or footer on any page of the document. This is going to highlight the page number so that you can select a different font or style for your page number. The page number will be highlighted in blue when it is selected.
- A box will appear which will let you adjust the font, style, and size like any other text on Microsoft Word.
- Making changes here will apply similar changes to the entire document.
You can also format text in your header or footer by selecting that text, then clicking the Home tab at the top of the window, and using the standard formatting options that you find there.
How to Delete Page Numbers in Word
If after adding pages to your document in Microsoft Word you realize that you don’t need page numbers, you can delete them.
You might also want to have page numbers on specific pages only on Microsoft Word. Follow these steps to delete page numbers from Microsoft Word.
- Double click the page number in the header or footer.
- Select the page number.
- Press the Del or Backspace key on your keyboard.
You can exit the editing mode by pressing the Esc key on your keyboard, or by double-clicking in the document body.
You can also enter the header or footer editing mode by right-clicking in the header or footer and choosing the Edit Header or Edit Footer option that appears.
The page number is an object that is located in the header or footer of the document and is replicated on each page. If you delete a page number from one page using the steps above then the page numbers will automatically be deleted from each other page in the document where they appear.
Page numbers are inserted into the header, footer, or page margin in Microsoft Word. In the sections above we discussed selecting and deleting the page number object. However, you can also delete the entire header or footer section to delete page numbers. However, deleting the header and footer will delete everything they contain.
Identify if the header or the footer contains a page number. If your page number is in the header, it will be at the top of the page. If a page number is in the footer you will find it at the bottom of the page.
If a page number is in the footer –
- Go to the Insert tab.
- Locate the Header and Footer section.
- Choose Footer.
- Select Remove Footer at the bottom of the menu.
If a page number is in the header –
- Click Insert.
- Find the Header and Footer group.
- Click the Header button.
- Choose the Remove Header option at the bottom of the menu.
How to Use Remove Page Numbers Command in Word
Previously we discussed manually deleting the page number from the header or footer of your document. However, there is also a specific command in the ribbon that will allow you to remove page numbers as well.
- Click the Insert tab.
- Find the Header and Footer section in the ribbon.
- Select the Page Number button.
- Click on Remove Page Numbers.
After completing these steps you will have deleted the page number from every page of your document.
How To Add Page Numbers To Google Docs
A simple numbering system helps to keep longer documents organized, especially when you intend on printing them out.
Though they may not be needed for shorter papers, page numbers come in handy if you have printed a document. Especially when you are trying to find which pages were skipped during the print process- whether it was an accident or intentional.
Adding page numbers to Google Docs is a simple and convenient feature. With so many options for where exactly they can appear in relation to the text or content of your document, there’s never been an easier way of identifying specific pages.
Here is how you can add page numbers.
- Open the Google Docs file to which you would like to add page numbers.
- Find Insert in the toolbar.
- In the Insert drop-down menu, select Page Numbers.
- Choose the desired page number location.
- Page numbers will now be added in the specified location on each page of your document.
Google Docs also allows you to add and use different font styles for the page numbers in your document. Simply double-click on the page number in the header or footer, then use the various font styling options to change the font style, color, or other formatting option that you want.
Google Docs also includes a feature that will display the page count of your document as well. You can find this by going to Insert > Page count. I typically use this after I have added the page numbers to my document, as well as the word “of.” So the finished product would say something like “1 of 4” if I was looking at the first page of four page document.
Google Docs also allows you to add a header to your page. You can do this by selecting Header and pager Number.
How To Omit Page Numbers From First Page In Google Docs
With Google Docs, you can remove page numbers that currently are not necessary for your project requirements.
Sometimes you will have a title page in your document that doesn’t need an actual number. Fortunately, Google Docs can handle this for you and omit any reference to the title page of your work if there is no reason it needs one.
- On the first page, double click the header and footer
- On the left, you will see a checkbox ‘Different first page’, click the box to check it.
- This will remove the page number from the title page. However, the rest of the pages will still have numbering intact.
How To Delete Page Numbers in Google Docs
The following steps will instruct Google Docs not to add page numbers to the headers or footers of any future pages.
- Open the document you want to omit pages from
- Near the existing page number, double click Header and Footer
- Delete page number
Page number from your header and footer is copied to every other sheet of paper in the document. Deleting one will delete all, so be careful.
How To Move Page Numbers in Google Docs
Google Docs allows you to move page numbers to different spots if you have already added them. Here is how:
- Go to your page number and double click
- Delete page number
- Now, in the toolbar, Go to Insert
- From the Insert Menu, Select Page numbers
- Choose your desired location or where you want to add page numbers
Changing Starting Number for Page Numbers In Google Docs
If you want to change your page number to something other than 1, follow these steps.
- Double click the existing page number
- From the options menus, select Page Numbers
- Next to Start at, enter the value in the field
- Click OK for the changes to take effect
How To Add Page Numbers To Microsoft Excel
It is always wise to number your spreadsheets if you require a hard copy of them. It saves time and frustration when referencing specific data.
Adding Page Numbers via Page Layout View in Excel
You can use the Page Layout View if you want to add page numbers on all the pages of your worksheet. Page Layout view is the fastest and easiest way to add page numbers.
- Select view from the Excel toolbar
- Workbook Views
- Select Page Layout from the Workbook Views
- This will add ‘Click to add footer’ at the end of the page
- Press ‘Click to add footer’ and select any one of the three boxes where you want to add a page number
- After you click, a design tab labeled Header and Footer Design tab will appear
- Now, Go to Design and click Page Number
- This adds a code & [Page] inside the box
- Add ‘of’ in front of the code
- Now, click Design, then Number of Pages which will add the code &[Pages]
- You can now click anywhere on the worksheet and a page number will be visible at the bottom
It is important to note that the page number will only be visible in the Page layout view and won’t be visible if you want to go back to the Normal view. However, in case you print the worksheets, the page number also gets printed.
You might want to have a different text appear on the first-page footer like the company’s name along with a page number.
If you want to add different text in the footer of the first page, check out the steps below.
- Go to the Page Layout
- Select Footer in the First Page or the page you want to insert different text in
- Go to design while the box is selected
- Go to Options
- Check the Different First Page Checkbox
- Now enter the text as per your requirement; the text you want to display
- Click randomly on the worksheet
The text you have chosen will not be displayed only on the first page. The rest of the pages will still display a page number
You might want to add different numbers for Even and Odd Pages. Luckily, Google Sheet provides an inbuilt feature to support this.
Following steps can be helpful if you want to show page numbers only on the Even pages, or Only on the Odd pages depending on your requirement
- Find View in the Excel Toolbar
- Go to Page Layout view
- Scroll and select Footer. This is where you want to insert a page number
- Select the appropriate box where you want a page number to display
- Now, go to Design
- Select Options
- Check the box next to Different Odd and Even Pages
- Now you can click the box in the odd pages, which is at the bottom left, this will show you the Odd Page Footer.
- Now enter the format for numbers you want to display on Odd pages
- Do the same for the number format you want to display on the even pages
Adding Page Number via Page Setup Dialogue Box
To add Page numbers using the Page Setup Dialogue box, follow these steps.
- Find the Page Layout tab on the top
- Click Page setup
- Click the dialogue launcher(small arrow)
- This opens up a Page set dialogue box
- Click the Header/footer tab on the Page setup dialogue box
- Select Page 1 of? In the Footer drop-down menu, the output format will be visible in the drop-down.
- Click OK for the changes to take effect.
Page Numbering using the Desired Number
You may want to start numbers with something other than 1. This may be the case if your current report is part of a larger report.
To start Page Numbering with a Desired Number, follow these steps.
- In the Excel toolbar, go to Page Layout
- Select Page Setup (small arrow)
- A dialogue box ‘Page Set’ will appear
- In the dialogue box, enter the number you want to show in the First Page Number field. This will be selected to Auto by default
- Click OK for the changes to take effect
Changing the Page Order
By default, Excel inserts page numbers to all the sheets going down and then moves to the right and numbers those sheets too.
If you are looking to change this order, follow these steps.
- Click the Page Layout tab on the top
- Select Page Setup and click the dialogue launcher
- A dialogue box with the name Page Set will appear
- In the dialogue box select the Sheet tab
- The current page order selected will be Down, then over. Change this to Over, then down.
- Click OK for the changes to take effect
How To Omit Page Numbers In Microsoft Excel
If you are looking to remove a page number at the starting page in Microsoft Excel. Consider the following.
- Go to Page Layout
- Click the Page Setup button
- Select Header and Footer in the dialogue box
- Click the drop-down menu under Header
- Select None
- Do the same for the Footer drop-down menu.
- Click OK for the changes to take effect
How To Set Different Number for the Starting Page
- Go to the Page Layout Tab
- Click Page setup
- Select Header and Footer
- You can insert page numbers here in your preferred format
- Depending on where your page number appears, click Customize Header and Customize Footer
- Look for &[PAge] page number code and click. This will move the insertion point to this location
- After typing a + sign, add the number of the page you want the numbering to start from. If you enter +3, page numbering will start from page 4.
- Click OK for the changes to take effect.
How to Add Page Numbers On Google Sheets
If you want to add page numbers to your Google Sheets, consider the following.
- Open the spreadsheet you want to add page numbers to in Google Spreadsheets
- Select File from the top
- Select Print from the drop-down menu
- In the bottom right column that appears, select Headers and Footers
- Under Headers and Footers check Page Number Box
It is important to note that Google Sheets only allows users to add page numbers at the bottom right of the worksheet.
Matt Jacobs has been working as an IT consultant for small businesses since receiving his Master’s degree in 2003. While he still does some consulting work, his primary focus now is on creating technology support content for SupportYourTech.com.
His work can be found on many websites and focuses on topics such as Microsoft Office, Apple devices, Android devices, Photoshop, and more.