Share via

How do I keep my page numbers consecutive when using page breaks in word?

Anonymous
2013-04-23T21:01:51+00:00

I have a document with multiple section breaks and over 100 pages.  However, this has been reduced down from 222 pages, which used to include even more section breaks.

I'm now trying to include page numbers on every single page.  Some of the sections are "linked" to previous sections, while others are not.   What I've found when these that aren't linked are linked to the page numbers, I'm getting weird numbers popping up.  For example, when linking section 3 to the first 2 sections, my page numbers went from 4 to 12.

I really have no idea how to fix this, but don't want to manually input that many pages into my document.  Please let me know if there is an easier way!

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments No comments
Answer accepted by question author
  1. Suzanne S Barnhill 277.1K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2013-04-23T22:11:43+00:00

    This actually has nothing to do with linking or unlinking of headers or footers but with restarting numbering (which can be done without unlinking). In any section where there is a jump in the numbering, go to Insert | Header & Footer | Page Number | Format Page Numbers.... In the Page Number Format dialog, change the "Page numbering" setting from "Start at" to "Continue from previous section."

    200+ people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments No comments

21 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
  1. Anonymous
    2013-11-19T13:26:06+00:00

    Run the following macro, which will set the page numbers of each section to follow. If you want instead to re-start numbering at each section, change False to True where indicated in bold. The macro will turn off revision tracking for the duration and turn it back on if it was on previously.

    Sub Macro1()

    Dim oSection As Section

    Dim oFooter As HeaderFooter

    Dim bRevisions As Boolean

        bRevisions = ActiveDocument.TrackRevisions

        ActiveDocument.TrackRevisions = False

        For Each oSection In ActiveDocument.Sections

            For Each oFooter In oSection.Footers

                With oFooter.PageNumbers

                    .RestartNumberingAtSection = False

                    .StartingNumber = 1

                End With

            Next oFooter

        Next oSection

        ActiveDocument.TrackRevisions = bRevisions

    End Sub

    http://www.gmayor.com/installing_macro.htm

    6 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments No comments
  2. Stefan Blom 338.5K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2015-06-04T08:56:50+00:00

    You just need to delete all the "manual page break" 

    Just hit Ctrl+H

    Find what: ^12

    Replace with: (eave it empty)

    and then hit "Replace all".

    You should back to normal numbering without page break!

    Note that this thread is about page numbering restarting after section breaks. No manual page breaks are involved.

    4 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments No comments
  3. Anonymous
    2015-06-04T05:20:09+00:00

    Thanks very much for replying, Suzanne - but I'm dismayed that you had no answer. I'm completely at a loss.... Just a thought: do you think it might be because I'm using Track Changes? Do I need to turn that off before the page numbers will 'stick' so to speak? (Like note references?)

    You just need to delete all the "manual page break" 

    Just hit Ctrl+H

    Find what: ^12

    Replace with: (eave it empty)

    and then hit "Replace all".

    You should back to normal numbering without page break!

    Ciao

    4 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments No comments
  4. Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 322.9K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2013-04-23T22:42:06+00:00

    In the Header & Footer section of the Header & Footer Tools>Design tab of the ribbon, select Format Page Numbers from the Page Number dropdown and set the page numbers to continue from the Previous Section.

    Or run a macro containing the following code to reset the page numbers in each Section of the document

    Dim i As Long, j As Long

    With ActiveDocument

        For i = 2 To .Sections.Count

            With .Sections(i)

                For j = 1 To .Headers.Count

                    .Headers(j).PageNumbers.RestartNumberingAtSection = False

                Next j

            End With

        Next i

    End With

    3 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments No comments