A header is text that appears at the top of each page; a footer is text that appears at the bottom of each page. Typically, headers and footers appear at the top or bottom of every page, perhaps with modifications (such as page numbers that change with every page). Word gives you extensive control over headers and footers. For example, you can
Enter any text (or insert other elements, such as images)
Create different headers for odd and even pages, or for the first page
Automatically number header or footer pages
Automatically add dates or times to headers and footers
Create different headers for different sections of your document; or reconnect headers in different sections so that they are all consistent
To work with headers, choose View, Header and Footer. Word switches you to Print Layout view, if you're not already there, and displays your header surrounded by nonprinting dotted lines that represent its location and size (see Figure 5.14).
If you want to work with a footer rather than a header, click the Switch Between Header and Footer button on the Header and Footer toolbar.
To enter text, simply start typing. Nearly any editing or formatting you can do in a regular Word editing window you can do in a header or footer area. You have access to the Standard toolbar, Formatting toolbar, and ruler shortcuts; all basic editing and formatting menu selections; and most keyboard shortcuts.
Word normally styles both headers and footers with left-aligned, Times New Roman 12-point type. You can change this manually, or by changing the built-in Header style in the same way you would change any document style.
By default, two tabs are set as part of the formatting in the Header and Footer styles: a center tab and a right tab. Text you type at the left margin is aligned, of course, with the left margin of the header or footer pane. If you press Tab and type, the text you type appears centered between the left and right margins. Similarly, if you press Tab again and type, text you type aligns with the right margin.
Also by default, the header and footer you create appear on every page of the current section of your document?if your document contains only one section, the header or footer appears on every page of the entire document. Every page's header contains the same information, except for information that is automatically adjusted through fields, such as page numbering. Footers work the same way: When you enter your first footer, that footer is applied to every page in your document. Later in this chapter, you'll learn how to vary the headers and footers throughout your document.
When you display a header or footer, Word also shows the Header and Footer toolbar (see Figure 5.15).
The buttons on the Header and Footer toolbar help you create headers and footers (see Table 5.2):
The six tools on the left side of the Header and Footer Toolbar (Insert AutoText, Insert Page Number, Insert Number of Pages, Format Page Number, Insert Date, and Insert Time) help you insert and format commonly used header and footer text.
The next tool, the Page Setup button, gives you access to Word's features for controlling page margins, paper size, and layout.
To the right of these tools, the Show/Hide Document Text button toggles the surrounding document text on and off so that you can see how your header, footer, and document text look next to each other.
The Link to Previous button helps you control whether headers and footers in separate sections are identical or not.
Finally, the three tools immediately to the left of the Close button (Switch Between Header and Footer, Show Previous, and Show Next) help you navigate between headers and footers in your document.
For example, if you are viewing the Header pane and you click the Switch Between Header and Footer button, you'll view the Footer pane. The Link to Previous, Show Previous, and Show Next buttons become useful when you create different headers and footers for various portions of your document.
Button | Function |
---|---|
Insert AutoText | Enables you to choose from a series of preformatted headers and footers that specify page numbers, author's name, date, filename, or other information |
Insert Page Number | Inserts a field that displays the correct page number on all pages |
Insert Number of Pages | Inserts a field that displays the number of pages in the entire document |
Format Page Number | Displays the Page Number Format dialog box, which enables you to control page number formatting and numbering |
Insert Date | Inserts a field that displays the current date |
Insert Time | Inserts a field that displays the current time |
Page Setup | Displays the Layout tab of the Page Setup dialog box, where you can specify different headers and footers for odd and even pages, or for the first page |
Show/Hide Document Text | Toggles between displaying document text in the background (in gray) or showing no text in the background |
Link to Previous | Specifies that a header (or footer) contain the same text as the header or footer in the preceding section |
Switch Between Header | Toggles between displaying the current section's header or footer and Footer |
Show Previous | Displays the header associated with the preceding section, if any |
Show Next | Displays the header associated with the next section, if any |
Close | Closes the Header and Footer pane |
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After you have created a header or footer, you can edit it by reopening the Header or Footer pane. Either use the menus or double-click any header or footer in Print Layout view that contains text.
Word's Header and Footer toolbar also includes buttons that give you one-click access to the dialog boxes you're most likely to need from within a header or footer:
The Page Number Format dialog box, where you can specify the appearance and numbering scheme used by page numbers
The Layout tab of the Page Setup dialog box, where you can specify different headers and footers for odd and even pages, or for the first page of your document
The Insert AutoText button on the Header and Footer toolbar enables you to choose from a series of boilerplate AutoText entries that include much of the information people typically place in headers, such as page numbers, author's name, date, and filename, as shown in Figure 5.16.
Much of this information is inserted in the form of fields, which Word can update automatically as you edit your document. For example, if you change the Author's name in the Summary tab of the Properties dialog box, the name changes in your header or footer the next time you update your fields.
For more information about working with fields, see Chapter 23, "Automating Your Documents with Field Codes," p. 771.
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Word aligns the three-part AutoText entries that are separated by commas using the built-in tab stops associated with the Header or Footer styles.
For example, if you choose Author, Page #, Date, Word displays the author's name at the left edge of the pane, the page number centered in the pane, and the date at the right edge of the pane. After you've inserted the AutoText entry, you can edit its contents and adjust its location if you want.
In addition to the AutoText entries, other buttons on the Header and Footer toolbar insert fields. For example, the Insert Date button inserts a date field. If you include this field in your header or footer and reopen your document tomorrow, Word automatically updates the date to the current date when you print the document or update all the fields in your document.
Similarly, the Time button inserts a time field that updates whenever you update fields or print your document. Or, if you include the total number of pages in your document by clicking the Insert Number of Pages button, Word updates that number as you add pages to your document.
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You can add the date or time anywhere in the body of your document. Choose Insert, Date and Time. In fact, you can add most of the fields you see on the Header and Footer toolbar to any portion of your document by using the Insert, Field command.
You can insert page numbers without working in the Header and Footer toolbar, like this:
With the insertion point in the document area (not the header or footer), choose Insert, Page Numbers. The Page Numbers dialog box appears (see Figure 5.17).
In the Position drop-down box, choose whether to place the page numbers in the header or footer.
Choose the Alignment for the page number.
If you don't want a page number on the first page, clear the Show Number on First Page check box.
If you want more control over how your page number is formatted, click Format and establish settings in the Page Number Format dialog box (see Figure 5.18); click OK when you're finished doing so.
To learn techniques you need to know in order to use the chapter numbering feature built into the Page Number Format dialog box, see "Adding Chapter Numbers to Your Captions," p. 700.
In the Page Numbers dialog box, click OK to apply the page numbering you've specified.
By default, the headers and footers you create are the same on every page of your document. If you create sections in your document, however, you can create various headers and footers in your document. Specifically, for each section you can create
A different header and footer for each section
One header and footer for even pages and another header and footer for odd pages
One header for the first page and another for subsequent pages
Initially, when you create a header or footer, it is linked throughout your document. That's how Word knows to use the same header and the same footer on each page of your document.
When you first divide your document into sections, the second (and any additional) section starts out with the same header as the first section. Word assumes that when you make a change in one section's header or footer, you'll want to make the same change in all your other headers or footers. Similarly, all your footers are connected to their fellow "feet."
You can tell when a header or footer is taking its cues from a previous one because the words "Same as Previous" appear at the upper right of the header or footer area (see Figure 5.19). In addition, the Link to Previous button is pressed down on the Header or Footer toolbar.
By default, when you create additional sections in a Word document, these new sections use headers and footers identical to those you created when your document contained only one section. Word enables you to create separate headers and footers for each section, by unlinking a section's header and footer from the headers and footers in the preceding section. To change a section's header or footer without changing those in other sections as well, follow these steps:
Choose View, Header and Footer. When the Header pane appears, you can see that it also contains a section designation.
Use the Show Next button to navigate to the section for which you want a different header. The Header pane for the next section appears, and the Link to Previous button on the Header and Footer toolbar becomes available.
Click the Link to Previous button to toggle it off (thereby disconnecting the header or footer from others in previous sections).
Change the header text for the section you want to change.
Click the Close button.
Check your document in Print Preview. The header in the section that you changed should now be different from the headers in the previous sections.
NOTE
Changing one section's headers or footers can impact other sections you did not intend to change. To understand how, it helps to understand more clearly how Word links headers and footers through a simple example: a document containing three sections.
Assume that you created your header before you divided the document into sections; as mentioned previously, the newly created sections use the same headers and footers as the original section. The third section of the document has the same heading as the first and second sections.
You now decide to change the header in the second section so that it is different from the header in the first section. To do so, you first toggle off Link to Previous (as described in the preceding section) and then edit the header as needed.
But the third section remains linked to the second, and Link to Previous is still enabled in the third section. Therefore, any changes made to the second section are reflected in the third section.
If you want to change the heading of one section in the middle of a sequence of sections without changing the headings in subsequent sections, do the following:
Before you change the section in the middle, go to the first section after it that you don't want changed and toggle off the Link to Previous button in the Header and Footer toolbar.
This approach has one limitation: It does not allow you to directly link the first and third sections so that changes to the first section's headers or footers are reflected in the third section as well.
You can solve this problem like this: Bookmark the text in the first heading that you also want to appear in the third heading (excluding any automatic page numbering fields). Then, in the third heading, insert a cross-reference to the bookmarked text. Whenever you edit the first heading, select the third heading and press F9 to update it; the text now matches the revised first heading.
Of course, you can disconnect a footer from previous footers by displaying the footer and then following the same steps.
NOTE
If you later decide that you want a disconnected header to once again be a reflection of the previous section's header, redisplay the Header pane and use the Show Next button to display the header for the section you changed. Click the Link to Previous button. Word displays a message asking whether you want to delete this header and connect to the header/footer in the previous section. Choose Yes.
Keep this in mind: If there are sections that follow the one you are changing that are linked to it by the Link to Previous setting in those following sections, they will change as well.
It's common for books and other long documents to utilize different headers for left and right pages. A left-hand header might, for example, include the book name or chapter, whereas a right-hand header contains a specific chapter section.
To create separate headers or footers for odd and even pages, use the Page Setup dialog box. Again, the steps listed here show you how to create different headers for odd and even pages. To create different footers, substitute footer for header throughout the next procedure. Follow these steps:
Choose View, Header and Footer. When the Header pane appears, you'll see that it also contains a section designation.
Click the Show Next button to navigate to the section for which you want different headers for odd and even pages. The header pane for the next section appears.
Click the Page Setup button. The Page Setup dialog box appears (refer to Figure 5.11).
Place a check mark in the Different Odd and Even check box.
Click OK. Word redisplays your document, and the Header toolbar title changes to either Even Page Header?Section X or Odd Page Header?Section X.
Type the text you want to appear in the Even Header pane and then click the Show Next or Show Previous button to find the Odd Header pane and complete it.
Often, regardless of the headers or footers that appear on most of your pages, you'll want a different header or footer on the first page?or no header or footer at all. Follow these steps:
Choose View, Header and Footer.
If your document has multiple sections, click Show Next to navigate to the section for which you want a different first page header. (If you want a different first page header for the entire document, you can skip this step.)
Click the Page Setup button. The Page Setup dialog box appears (refer to Figure 5.11).
Check the Different First Page check box. If you are creating a different first page header for the entire document, choose Whole Document in the Apply To drop-down list box.
Click OK.
Word redisplays your document, placing a blank header on the first page of the section or of the whole document, depending on what you selected in step 4. You can add text to the header, or simply leave it blank.
If you want separate first page headers in every section, but Word only creates one in the first section, see "How to Make Word Create Separate First Page Headers in Every Section," in the "Troubleshooting" section of this chapter. |
NOTE
When you no longer need a header or footer, you can simply select its contents and delete them.