How to Add Page Numbers in LibreOffice and OpenOffice Writer

Here’s how you can add page numbers in LibreOffice or the OpenOffice Writer application.

Whether you’re working on a professional report, a research paper, or a simple document, adding page numbers can provide structure and ease of navigation. It also helps when you print the document or reference the document from another document.

In this simple tutorial, you will learn how to add page numbers in LibreOffice and OpenOffice Writer.

Add page numbers

The page numbers are auto-increment fields. Hence it is recommended to add them in the header or footer section. Once you do that, it will automatically increment as you go along with creating new pages.

The steps are different in LibreOffice and OpenOffice. Follow accordingly.

LibreOffice Writer

• Open the document where you want to add the page number.
• Insert header or footer using Insert > Header and Footer from the menu.
• While keeping the cursor in the header/footer, from the menu, select Insert > Page Number.
• You should see a number of the current page at the cursor in the footer (or in header as per your document).
• Now you can verify all the pages whether they have the page numbers.

OpenOffice Writer

• Open the document where you want to add the page number.
• Insert header or footer using Insert > Header (or Footer) > Default.
• While keeping the cursor in the header/footer, from the menu, select Insert > Fields > Page Number.
• You should see a number of the current page at the cursor in the footer (or in header as per your document).
• Now you can verify all the pages whether they have the page numbers.

Troubleshooting common page numbering issues

While working with page numbers, you may encounter some common issues. Here are a few troubleshooting tips to help you resolve them.

Page numbers not appearing correctly

If the page numbers are not displaying as expected, ensure that you have added the page number field in the correct header or footer section. Double-check the formatting and alignment settings for the page numbers.

Removing page numbers from specific pages

To exclude page numbers from specific pages, you can use section breaks. Follow the steps mentioned earlier to divide your document into sections, and then customize the page numbering settings accordingly.

Wrapping Up

I hope this simple guide helps you to add page numbers to your document in LibreOffice or OpenOffice. You can customize them using the formatting tools available. Let me know in the comment box below if this article helped you.