How to Add Page Numbers in Google Docs, Skip Page 1, Fix Missing Options

You can add page numbers in Google Docs from one menu: Insert > Page elements > Page number. Below are the exact steps for desktop and the phone app, how to build a "Page X of Y" footer, how to skip the first page, and the fix for the most common problem, where the page-number option is missing.

First check: your doc must be in pages format

If the page-number option is missing, or your headers and footers have disappeared, the document is almost certainly in pageless format. Google's help page says page numbers, headers and footers work only in documents in pages format. They aren't available in pageless format.

If a doc already had headers or footers and someone switched it to pageless, you stop seeing them. Google's fix is to make sure the document is in pages format, and they come back.

One side effect: in pageless docs, footnotes all appear together at the end of the document, per the same page.

Add page numbers on a computer

1. Open the doc.
2. Click Insert > Page elements > Page number.
3. Click Page number to choose where the numbers go, or More options to apply numbers to specific pages or sections, or to change alignment.

Make a "Page X of Y" header or footer

Google Docs has a separate Page count element, and it is inserted wherever your cursor is. That lets you build "Page 2 of 9" yourself:

1. Add a page number using the steps above so it sits in the header or footer.
2. Click in the header or footer and type Page before the number.
3. Put your cursor after the number and type of.
4. Click Insert > Page elements > Page number > Page count.

The result reads:

Page [page number] of [page count]

Skip the number on the first page

A title page usually shouldn't carry a number. On desktop:

1. Click directly inside the header or footer on any page.
2. In the layout checkboxes that Google's help page says appear for the header or footer you clicked, tick Different first page.

Google says this gives the first page of the document, or of a section, its own header or footer. Leave that first-page header or footer empty and the number won't show there.

Start numbering on a later page or section

Google's help page gives this route:

1. Click Insert > Page elements > Page number > More options.
2. Under Apply to, choose where the change applies.
3. Click Apply.

If you don't see Apply to, the doc has no sections yet. Google's tip is to add a section break first, then come back to this dialog.

The same goes for giving one section its own header or footer. Click into that section's header or footer and uncheck Link to previous. If that box isn't there, add a section break.

Use different headers on odd and even pages

Handy for anything printed double-sided:

1. Click a header or footer.
2. Click Options on the right.
3. Under Apply to, pick Whole document.
4. Click Different odd and even.
5. Click Apply.

Add or remove a header or footer

To add one, click Insert > Page elements > Header (or Footer) and type your text.

To remove one, double-click it, click Options on the right, then choose Remove header or Remove footer.

If you want to keep it but shrink the space it takes, click in the header or footer, then Format > Headers & footers > More options. Under Apply to, choose a section or the whole document, enter the margin sizes and click Apply. Google's tip: set the margin to 0 to remove the header or footer space.

Add page numbers in the iPhone and iPad app

The phone app has its own catch: you can only see and edit page numbers, headers and footers in Print Layout mode, according to Google's iPhone and iPad instructions.

To turn it on and edit a header or footer:

1. Open the doc in the Google Docs app and tap Edit.
2. Tap More at the top right.
3. Turn on Print Layout.
4. Tap the header or footer and type.

To add page numbers:

1. Tap Edit.
2. Tap Insert.
3. Tap Page Number.
4. Choose where the numbers go, and whether to skip the first page.

The phone is actually quicker for skipping the title page, since that choice sits right in this flow. As on desktop, none of this works in pageless format.

This section of Google's help is older than the desktop one, so menu labels in the current app may differ slightly.

On Android

Google's Android help page describes the same header and footer route as iPhone, so use the iPhone steps above: tap Edit, tap More, turn on Print Layout, then tap the header or footer.

If you change a long doc's layout and regret it, you can restore an earlier version of the Google Doc.