Headers and footers are areas in the top, bottom, and side margins of each page in a document.

headers and footers

You can insert or change text or graphics in headers and footers. For example, you can add page numbers, the time and date, a company logo, the document title or file name, or the author's name.

If you want to change a header or footer that you inserted, the Headers & Footers tab under Header & Footer Tools gives you more header and footer options.What do you want to do?

I don't see any header or footer designs in the gallery

If you don't see any built-in header and footer designs in the gallery, building blocks add-ins may be unavailable. To make sure built-in designs appear in all of the Microsoft Office Word building block galleries, do the following:

  1. Click the Microsoft Office Button button image, and then click Word Options.
  2. Click Add-Ins.
  3. In the Manage list, select Disabled Items, and then click Go.
  4. Click Building Blocks.dotx, and click Enable.
  5. Restart Word.

Working with headers and footers in a document without sections

In a simple document without sections, you can insert, change, and remove headers and footers. If you are unsure whether your document has sections, click Draft on the status bar. On the Home tab, in the Find group, click Go To. Click Section, and then click Next to find any section breaks in the document.

Insert or change the headers or footers

You can insert predesigned headers or footers in your document and easily change the header and footer designs. Or you can create your own header or footer with a company logo and custom look, and save the new header or footer to the gallery.

Insert the same header and footer throughout a document

  1. On the Insert tab, in the Header & Footer group, click Header or Footer.

    word ribbon image

  2. Click the header or footer design that you want.

    The header or footer is inserted on every page of the document.

    Note If necessary, you can format text in the header or footer by selecting the text and using the formatting options on the Mini toolbar.

Insert text or graphics in a header or footer and save it to the gallery

  1. On the Insert tab, in the Header & Footer group, click Header or Footer.

    word ribbon image

  2. Click Edit Header or Edit Footer.
  3. Insert text or graphics.
  4. To save the header or footer that you created to the gallery of header or footer options, select the text or graphics in the header or footer, and then click Save Selection as New Header or Save Selection as New Footer.

Change headers or footers

  1. On the Insert tab, in the Header & Footer group, click Header or Footer.

    word ribbon image

  2. Click a header or footer design from the gallery.

    The header or footer design changes for the entire document.

Remove the header or footer from the first page

  1. On the Page Layout tab, click the Page Setup Dialog Box Launcher, and then click the Layout tab.
  2. Select the Different first page check box under Headers and footers.

    Headers and footers are removed from the first page of the document.

Make the headers or footers different for odd and even pages

For example, you might choose to use the title of the document on odd pages, and the chapter title on even pages.

  1. On the Page Layout tab, click the Page Setup Dialog Box Launcher, and then click the Layout tab.
  2. Select the Different odd and even check box.

    Now you can insert the header or footer for even pages on an even page and the header or footer for odd pages on an odd page.

Change the contents of a header or footer

  1. On the Insert tab, in the Header & Footer group, click Header or Footer.

    word ribbon image

  2. Make your changes to the header or footer by selecting the text and revising it or by using the options on the Mini toolbar to format the text. For example, you can change the font, apply bold format, or apply a different font color.

    Tip In Print Layout view, you can quickly switch between the header or footer and the document text. Just double-click the dimmed header or footer or the dimmed document text.

Remove the headers or footers

  1. Click anywhere in the document.
  2. On the Insert tab, in the Header & Footer group, click Header or Footer.

    word ribbon image

  3. Click Remove Header or Remove Footer.

    The header or footers are removed from the entire document.

Working with headers and footers in a document with multiple sections

In a document with sections, you can insert, change, and remove different headers and footers for each section. Or you can use the same header or footer for all of the sections. If you are unsure whether your document has sections, click Draft on the status bar. On the Home tab, in the Find group, click Go To. Click Section, and then click Next to find any section breaks in the document.

To create section breaks, click where you want to place a section in the document. On the Page Layout tab, in the Page Setup group, click Breaks.

Create a different header or footer for part of a document

  1. Click in the section for which you want to create a different header or footer.
  2. On the Insert tab, in the Header & Footer group, click Header or Footer.

    word ribbon image

  3. Click Edit Header or Edit Footer.
  4. On the Headers & Footers tab, in the Navigation group, click Link to Previous button image to break the connection between the header and footer in the new section and the previous section.

    Microsoft Office Word does not display Same as Previous in the upper-right corner of the header or footer.

  5. Change the existing header or footer, or create a new header or footer for this section.

Use the same headers and footers in each document section

  1. Double-click the header or footer that you want to make the same as the header or footer in the previous section.
  2. On the Headers & Footers tab, in the Navigation group, click Previous button image or Next button image to move to the header or footer that you want to change.
  3. Click Link to Previous button image to reconnect the header and footer in the current section to those in the previous section.
  4. Office Word will ask if you want to delete the header and footer and connect to the header and footer in the previous section. Click Yes.

Make the headers or footers different for odd and even pages

For example, you might choose to use the title of the document on odd pages, and the chapter title on even pages.

  1. On the Insert tab, in the Header & Footer group, click Header or Footer.

    word ribbon image

  2. Click Edit Header or Edit Footer.
  3. On the Headers & Footers tab, in the Options group, select the Different odd and even check box.
  4. If necessary, in the Navigation group, click Previous button image or Next button image to move into the odd or even header or footer areas.
  5. Create the header or footer for odd-numbered pages in the Odd Page Header or Odd Page Footer area. Create the header or footer for even-numbered pages in the Even Page Header or Even Page Footer area.