How to Add Page Numbers to PDFs in Adobe Acrobat (Legacy Interface)

Important Note: This tutorial is for the older version of Adobe Acrobat. If you are using the updated version of Adobe Acrobat with the new interface, please see “How to Add Page Numbers in Adobe Acrobat (Updated Interface).”

This tutorial shows how to add page numbers to PDFs in Adobe Acrobat. We’ll also look at how to update page numbers and how to add page numbers to the opposite side of each page in PDFs.

Table of Contents:

How to Add Page Numbers to PDFs

How to Update Page Numbers in PDFs

How to Add Page Numbers to the Opposite Side of Each Page in PDFs

Do you want to add page numbers on specific pages? Please see “How to Start Page Numbers on a Specific Page in Adobe Acrobat (PC & Mac).”

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

Watch more than 250 other writing-related software tutorials on my YouTube channel.

The images below are from Adobe Acrobat Pro DC using the old interface. 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 offer a way to insert page numbers in PDFs.

How to Add Page Numbers to 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 Header & Footer in the Edit PDF toolbar.

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

Select Add from the Header & Footer menu.

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

Place your cursor in the location where you want to insert the page number:

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

Header and footer locations in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 5. Page number locations

Select the Page Number and Date Format link.

Page Number and Date Format link in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 6. Page Number and Date Format link

(Optional Step) Select a format from the Page Number Format menu in the Page Number and Date Format dialog box.

Page Number Format menu in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 7. Page Number Format menu

(Optional Step) Enter a number into the Start Page Number textbox if you want the page numbers to start with a number other than 1.

Start Page Number Textbox in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 8. Start Page Number textbox

Select the OK button to close the Page Number and Date Format dialog box.

OK button in the Page Number and Date Format dialog box in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 9. Page Number and Date Format OK button

Select the Insert Page Number button.

A preview of the page numbers will appear in the Preview section.

Insert Page Number button in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 11. Insert Page Number button

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

Page number font style and margins in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 12. Font style and margin options

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

Select the Page Range Options link.

Page Range Options link in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 12. Page Range Options link

Enter a page range or choose All pages in range, Even pages only, or Odd pages only from the Subset menu.

Page Range Options dialog box in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 14. Page range 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 15. 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 16. Add Header and Footer OK button

Your new page numbers should be added to your PDF immediately.

How to Update Page Numbers in PDFs

The page numbers we added in the previous section won’t automatically update if you insert additional pages. However, you can manually update the page numbers, as necessary.

Select the Tools tab (see figure 1).
Select the Edit PDF button in the Tools Center (see figure 2).
Select Header & Footer in the Edit PDF toolbar (see figure 3).
Select Update from the Header & Footer menu.

Update option in the Header & Footer menu in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 17. Update option

Select the OK button in the Update Header and Footer dialog box (see figure 16).

Your page numbers should be updated immediately.

How to Add Page Numbers to the Opposite Side of Each Page in PDFs

You may want to add the page numbers on a specific side for even and odd pages if your PDF will be bound like a book.

For this example, we will place the page numbers on the left side of the even pages and the right side of the odd pages.

Select the Tools tab (see figure 1).
Select the Edit PDF button in the Tools Center (see figure 2).
Select Header & Footer in the Edit PDF toolbar (see figure 3).
Select Add from the Header & Footer menu (see figure 4).
Place your cursor in the Left Header Text or Left Footer Text textbox (see figure 5).
Select the Insert Page Number button (see figure 10).
Select the Page Range Options link (see figure 13).
Select Even pages only from the Subset menu in the Page Range Options dialog box (see figure 14).
Select the OK button to close the Page Range Options dialog box (see figure 15).
Select the OK button to close the Add Header and Footer dialog box (see figure 16).
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.

Add New header or footer button in the Adobe Acrobat — Figure 18. Add New button

Place your cursor in the Right Header Text or Right Footer Text textbox (see figure 5).
Select the Insert Page Number button (see figure 10).
Select the Page Range Options link (see figure 13).
Select Odd pages only from the Subset menu in the Page Range Options dialog box (see figure 14).
Select the OK button to close the Page Range Options dialog box (see figure 15).
Select the OK button to close the Add Header and Footer dialog box (see figure 16).

Your page numbers should appear on the left side of the even pages and the right side of the odd pages.

Related Resources

How to Add and Format Text in PDFs with Adobe Acrobat

How to Insert and Modify Images in PDFs with Adobe Acrobat

How to Add Headers and Footers to PDFs in Adobe Acrobat

How to Adjust Line Spacing in PDFs with Adobe Acrobat

How to Convert PDFs to Microsoft Word Files in Adobe Acrobat

How to Combine Files into One PDF in Adobe Acrobat

Updated February 04, 2024