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How to Add Text to the Header or Footer of Your Report in Word 2016

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2016-03-26 7:15:30
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In addition to a page number, you can put other content in the header and footer areas of your Word document. For example, if you’re typing the minutes of a club meeting, you might want to put the club’s name in the header so that it appears across the top of each page.

Here are two ways of putting content into them: You can use presets to insert codes and formatting, or you can type text and insert codes manually into the headers and footers.

To use a preset, do the following:

  1. On the Insert tab, click the Header button, or click the Footer button.

  2. Click one of the presets that appears on the list.

    Choose a header or footer preset.
    Choose a header or footer preset.

To create your own header or footer, follow these steps:

  1. In Page Layout view, double-click the top or bottom margin area of the page.

    OR

  2. On the Insert tab, click the Header button or the Footer button and then choose Edit Header or Edit Footer from the menu that appears.

    The Header & Footer Tools Design tab appears on the Ribbon.

  3. Position the insertion point where you want the header or footer text to appear.

    The header and footer have preset tab stops: a center tab stop in the center, and a right-aligned tab stop at the right. So, in step 2, if you want to place something in the center, press Tab once; if you want to place something on the right, press Tab twice.

  4. Type the text that you want to appear.

  5. (Optional) If you want to switch between the header and footer, click Go to Header or Go to Footer.

  6. Click Close Header and Footer.

    Type text into the header or footer area.
    Type text into the header or footer area.

In a complex document, you can get very fancy with headers and footers using some of the advanced options on the Header & Footer Tools Design tab. For example:

  • You can choose to have a different header and footer on the first page. That might be useful if the first page is a cover sheet or title page.

  • You can also have different headers and footers on odd and even pages. That’s handy when you’re printing a double-sided booklet, for example, so the page numbers can always be on the outside edges.

  • You can also create section breaks and have a different header and footer in each section. When you use multiple headers and footers in a document, you can move between them by clicking the Previous and Next buttons.

  • To adjust the header and footer size and positioning, use the settings in the Position group. You can specify a Header from Top and Footer from Bottom position there. For example, if you want a taller header section, increase the Header from Top setting.

    Use the Header & Footer Tools Design tab to set options for your headers and footers.
    Use the Header & Footer Tools Design tab to set options for your headers and footers.

About This Article

This article is from the book: 

About the book author:

Faithe Wempen, M.A., is a Microsoft Office Master Instructor and the author of over 150 books on computer technology, including Outlook 2019 for Dummies and PowerPoint Bible. She is also a CompTIA A+ certified PC technician and an adjunct Computer Technology instructor at Purdue University. Her online courses in Office applications and digital literacy have educated over a quarter of a million students for corporate clients.