Starting page numbers from page 3 only

With a thesis, annual report or quotation, the cover page doesn't have a number, and neither does the table of contents. The numbering should start at 1 on page 3. You do this by splitting the document into two sections: one section without numbers and one with numbers.

As an example, we'll use the annual report of Bloemisterij Het Zonnetje: page 1 is the cover page, page 2 is the contents, and the text starts from page 3.

Step 1: insert a section break

1. Place the cursor at the end of the table of contents, so on the last line of page 2.
2. Go to the Layout tab and click Breaks (1).
3. Choose Insert section break (2) and then Next page.

If there's already a regular page break between page 2 and 3, remove it first. Otherwise you'll end up with a blank page.

Step 2: break the link

1. Double click at the bottom of page 3 in the footer (or on the Insert tab choose Headers & footers, Edit footer).
2. Turn off Link to previous (1). Now the footer of section 2 is separate from that of section 1.

Step 3: insert a page number and start it at 1

1. In the footer of page 3, click Page Number and choose the position, for example bottom centre.
2. Click Page Numbering and choose Start at 1. Click OK.

Just want the cover page without a number?

Then you don't need any sections. Turn on Different first page in the footer and leave the footer of page 1 empty. If you want page 2 to have number 1, set Start at to 0.

Pitfalls

• Headers and footers are linked separately. If you also want a different header from page 3, turn off Link to previous in the header too.
• On the very first page you won't see Link to previous. That's correct: the first section has no previous section.
• Still see a number on the cover page? Go to the footer of page 1 and remove the number there. Because the link is broken, page 3 will keep its numbering.
• See the hidden section breaks with the Nonprinting characters button on the Home tab (see A blank page at the end that won't go away).

More about headers and footers in Header, footer and page numbers.