Graduate School

Page Number Troubleshooting - Word 2003

The page count begins with the very first page of your ETDR, the abstract title page. Page numbers are not displayed, however, on pages preceding the Table of Contents. Lower case Roman numerals (i, ii, iii) are displayed on the Table of Contents, List of Figures, List of Tables, Acknowledgements, Dedication, and Preface pages. Starting with the first page of Chapter 1, the page count is reset to “1” and displayed in Arabic numbers (1, 2, 3). This sequence continues through the remainder of the document.

This system of page counting and displaying page numbers is built into the template and shouldn’t require any attention. As you work with your document, however, it’s possible that components of the page numbering scheme may be inadvertently deleted or modified. If page numbers are not displaying properly, follow the steps below to correct the problem.

Section breaks

  1. Open your document in Word. From the View menu, select Normal.
  2. You should see a Section break just before the Table of Contents. If a Section break is present, skip to Step 4. If the Section Break is missing, place your cursor just in front of the “T” in “Table.”
  3. From the Insert menu, select Break. Under Section break types click the radio button for Next page. Click OK. If a Page break is present, select and delete it.
  4. Similarly, check for Section break just before the start of Chapter 1. If the Section break is present, skip to Step 1 under “Preliminary Pages” below. If the Section break is missing, place your cursor just in front of the first word in the title of Chapter 1. Do not place the cursor in front of the “C” in “Chapter 1,” but rather in front of the first letter of the first word following “Chapter 1.”
  5. From the Insert menu, select Break. Under Section break types click the radio button for Next page. Click OK. If a Page break is present, select and delete it.

Preliminary pages (all pages before the Table of Contents)

  1. Place the cursor anywhere on the title page. Select View/Header and Footer.
  2. Scroll to the footer on the title page. If you see a page number in the footer, select the number and press the Delete key. If you do not see a page number in the footer, go on to the next step.
  3. Place the cursor within the Footer.
  4. In the Header and Footer toolbar, click the icon for Format Page Number.
  5. Set the Number format: to i,ii,iii,… The Start at: radio button should be selected and the number set to “i.” Click OK.

Table of Contents

  1. Scroll to the first page of your Table of Contents. If you’re not in the Header and Footer view, select Header and Footer on the View menu.
  2. Click in the footer on the first page of the Table of Contents.
  3. If “Same as Previous” is visible just above the footer, click the icon for Same as Previous in the Header and Footer toolbar. This will remove the “Same as Previous” label from the footer. Note: This icon may also appear as Link to Previous.
  4. In the Header and Footer toolbar, click the icon for Format Page Number. Set the Number Format to i,ii,iii,… The radio button for Continue from previous section should be selected. Click OK.
  5. Click the icon for Insert Page Number. Click the appropriate icon in the Format toolbar at the top of the screen to left justify, center, or right justify the page number.

Chapter 1

  1. Scroll to the first page of Chapter 1. If you’re not in the Header and Footer view, select Header and Footer on the View menu.
  2. Click in the footer on the first page of Chapter 1.
  3. If “Same as Previous” is visible just above the footer, click the icon for Same as Previous in the Header and Footer toolbar. This will remove the “Same as Previous” label from the footer. Note: This icon may also appear as Link to Previous.
  4. In the Header and Footer toolbar, click the icon for Format Page Number. Set the Number Format to 1,2,3,… The radio button for Start at: should be selected and the number set to “1.” Click OK.
  5. Click the icon for Insert Page Number. Click the appropriate icon in the Format toolbar at the top of the screen to left justify, center, or right justify the page number.
  6. On the Header and Footer toolbar, click Close.

Page numbers starting over at “1”

If you see page numbers reverting back to “1” in the body of your document, it’s likely this is occurring at a Section break. Follow these steps to correct the problem:

  1. Click anywhere on the page where the numbering is starting over at “1.”
  2. On the View menu, select Header and Footer.
  3. Click in the Footer
  4. On the Header and Footer toolbar, click the Format Page Number icon
  5. Click the radio button for Continue from previous section.
  6. Click OK.

Repeat these steps at each occurrence of a section break or when page numbers are reverting back to “1.”