How to Add Headers and Footers to PDFs in Adobe Acrobat

This tutorial shows how to add headers and footers to PDFs in Adobe Acrobat.

Plus, we will look at how to use more than one font format and position header and footer text on opposite sides of pages by adding multiple headers and footers.

Quick Links:

How to Add Headers and Footers to PDFs
How to Add Additional Headers and Footers to PDFs

If you want to insert page numbers in your headers or footers, please see my other tutorial “How to Add Page Numbers to PDFs in Adobe Acrobat.”

This tutorial is available as a YouTube video showing all the steps in real time.

Watch more than 100 other writing-related software tutorials on my YouTube channel.

The images below are from Adobe Acrobat Pro DC. These steps will also work in Adobe Acrobat Standard DC, Adobe Acrobat 2020, and Adobe Acrobat 2017. Adobe’s free PDF display software, Acrobat Reader, doesn’t provide a way to add headers or footers to PDFs.

How to Add Headers and Footers to PDFs

This is the basic method to add a header and footer to a PDF. You can add a header and footer at the same time. However, you can’t apply different formatting simultaneously.

If you want to apply different formatting to different parts of your header or footer, create multiple headers or footers (which will look like one seamless header or footer upon completion), as shown below in How to Add Additional Headers and Footers in PDFs.

Select the Tools tab.

Tools tab in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 1. Tools tab

Select the Edit PDF button in the Tools Center.

Edit PDF button in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 2. Edit PDF button

Select the Header & Footer button in the Edit PDF toolbar.

Header & Footer button in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 3. Header & Footer button

Select Add from the Header & Footer menu.

Header and Footer Add option in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 4. Add option

Enter the header or footer text in one or more of the six locations:

- Left Header Text
- Center Header Text
- Right Header Text
- Left Footer Text
- Center Footer Text
- Right Footer Text

Header and Footer locations in the Add Header and Footer dialog box in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 5. Header and footer location options

(Optional Step) Change the font, font size, underlining, font color, or margins. (Your changes will appear in the Preview Section.)

Font formatting options in the Add Header and Footer dialog box in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 6. Formatting options

Optional Steps: Select a Page Range or Select Even or Odd Pages Only

Select the Page Range Options link.

Page Range Options link in the Add Header and Footer dialog box in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 7. Page Range Options link

Enter a page range or choose Even pages only or Odd pages only from the Subset menu in the Page Range Options dialog box.

Subset menu in the Page Range Options dialog box in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 8. Subset menu

Select the OK button to close the Page Range Options dialog box.

OK button in the Page Range Options dialog box in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 9. Page Range Options OK button

Select the OK button to close the Add Header and Footer dialog box.

OK button in the Add Header and Footer dialog box in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 10. Add Header and Footer OK button

Your new header or footer should appear in your PDF.

Pro Tip: To edit your header or footer, select Header & Footer in the Edit PDF toolbar and then select Update from the menu.

Update header and footer option in the Adobe Acrobat — Figure 11. Update option

How to Add Additional Headers and Footers to PDFs

You can add additional headers and footers if you want specific text to only appear on even or odd pages or if you want to apply more than one format to the text.

Select the Tools tab (see figure 1).
Select the Edit PDF button in the Tools Center (see figure 2).
Select the Header & Footer button in the Edit PDF toolbar (see figure 3).
Select Add from the Header & Footer menu (see figure 4).
Enter the first text elements in the position textboxes in the Add Header and Footer dialog box (see figure 5).
(Optional Step) Change the font, font size, underlining, font color, or margins (see figure 6).
(Optional Step) Select the Page Range Options link (see figure 7).
(Optional Step) Choose Even pages only or Odd pages only from the Subset menu in the Page Range Options dialog box (see figure 8).
Select the OK button to close the Page Range Options dialog box (see figure 9).
Select the OK button to close the Add Header and Footer dialog box (see figure 10).
Reselect the Header & Footer button in the Edit PDF toolbar (see figure 3).
Reselect Add from the Header & Footer menu (see figure 4).
Select the Add New button in the information dialog box to acknowledge that you want to add another header or footer.

Add new header or footer information dialog box in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 12. Add New button

Enter the second text elements in the position textboxes in the Add Headers and Footers dialog box (see figure 5).
Repeat steps 6 through 10 to create the second header or footer with different formatting or positioned on even or odd pages only.