Page Numbers are Zeros

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 24, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


1

Dave has a customer to whom he sends documents periodically. When they leave Dave's desk, the pages are all numbered properly. When his customer opens the documents, the page numbers, located in the footer of each page, are all zeros. Dave wonders why this occurs and if there is a way to fix it.

There are a couple of reasons this could be happening. The simplest explanation is that the fields that Word uses for your page numbers are not automatically updated on the target system. The easiest way to see if this is the issue is to open the header or footer, select the page number, and press F9. You can also choose Tools | Options | Print tab (See Figure 1.) and make sure the Update Fields check box is selected. Print the document and the page numbers should be updated.

Figure 1. The Print tab of the Options dialog box.

If neither of these techniques changes the page numbers from zero, it could be because of a strange little bug in Word 2000. This occurs if there is a combination of tables and floating graphics in your header or footer. You can find more information on this esoteric mix of conditions and how it can affect your document by visiting this Web page at the Word MVP site:

http://wordmvp.com/FAQs/Numbering/PageNumber0.htm

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (320) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Saving Everything

Need to force users to save their work? It may be as simple as implementing a couple of macros that get a bit more ...

Discover More

Moving Cell Borders when Sorting

Sort your data and you may be surprised at what Excel does to your formatting. (Some formatting may be moved in the sort ...

Discover More

Setting an Upper Threshold for a Cell

Do you want to limit what can be entered into a particular cell in your worksheet? Here are three separate ways you can ...

Discover More

Comprehensive VBA Guide Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the language used for writing macros in all Office programs. This complete guide shows both professionals and novices how to master VBA in order to customize the entire Office suite for their needs. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2010 today!

More WordTips (menu)

Two Page Numbers per Physical Page

If your document has two mini pages on one page, inserting page numbers in Word, so that each mini page has its own ...

Discover More

Creating Point Pages

Want to add a page, with a different page number, in Word without affecting the entire document? The solution is a bit ...

Discover More

Default Font for Page Numbers

Page numbers are a common addition to documents, and a great aid to readers. If you want to easily format page numbers, ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 2 + 2?

2022-05-22 22:14:49

Joel

Thank you thank you! :) This is still useful!


This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.