How to Start Page Numbers on a Specific Page in Microsoft Word (PC & Mac)

This tutorial shows how to start page numbers on a specific page in Microsoft Word.

Do you need a refresher on page numbers? Please see “How to Add Page Numbers in Microsoft Word,” which explains how to add and format page numbers, remove the page number from the first page, and start the second page with page number 1.

This tutorial is also 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 Word for Microsoft 365. These steps will also work in Word 2021, Word 2019, Word 2016, Word 2013, and Word for Mac (Word for Microsoft 365 for Mac). These steps don’t apply to Word for the web.

How to Start Page Numbers on a Specific Page

The following steps will work in documents with or without existing page numbers.

Select the Home tab in the ribbon.

Home tab in Word 365 — Figure 1. Home tab

Select the Show/Hide button to show your formatting marks.

Show/Hide button in Word 365 — Figure 2. Show/Hide button

Select the Layout tab in the ribbon.

Layout tab in Word 365 — Figure 3. Layout tab

Place your cursor at the beginning of the page where you want the page numbers to start.

Cursor at the start of the page in Word 365 — Figure 4. Cursor at the start of the page

Select the Breaks button in the Page Setup group.

Breaks button in the Layout tab in Word 365 — Figure 5. Breaks button

Select the Next Page section break from the drop-down menu.

Next Page section break in Word 365 — Figure 6. Next Page section break option

The section break should appear at the bottom of the previous page.

Next Page section break in text in Word 365 — Figure 7. Section break on the previous page

Double-click in the header or footer area of the page where you want the page numbers to start. Double-clicking opens the Header & Footer tab, which only appears when the headers or footers are selected.

Header area in Word 365 — Figure 8. Header area

Deselect the Link to Previous button to disconnect the headers or footers in the section you just created from the previous section.

When this button is deselected, its background color changes from dark gray to a light gray matching the rest of the ribbon.

Link to Previous button in the Header & Footer Tab in Word 365 — Figure 9. Link to Previous button

Select the Page Number button in the Header & Footer group.

Page Number button in the Header & Footer tab in Word 365 — Figure 10. Page Number button

Select Format Page Numbers from the drop-down menu.

Format Page Numbers option in the Header & Footer tab in Word 365 — Figure 11. Format Page Numbers option

(Optional) Select an option from the Number format menu in the Page Number Format dialog box if you want to use a different format than your existing page numbers.

Number format menu in the Page Number Format dialog box in Word 365 — Figure 12. “Number format” menu

Select the Start at radio button.

"Start at" radio button in the Page Number Format dialog box in Word 365 — Figure 13. “Start at” radio button

Enter the starting page number in the Start at text box.

You can enter a page number that does not physically exist in your document. For example, if your document is nine pages long, you can still start with page number 90.