Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Formatting a Cover Page.

Formatting a Cover Page

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 13, 2024)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


If you are writing a report, you will probably want to create a cover page. In some word processors, this would be done as a separate file. You can also use this approach in Word, but you can also format a cover page as part of the document containing the report. This is done by making the cover page one section and the rest of the report another section. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. At the beginning of your document, enter the information you want for your cover page. Don't worry about formatting yet; just enter the text.
  2. Position the insertion point at the beginning of the report, but after the cover page information.
  3. Select Break from the Insert menu. Word displays the Break dialog box. (See Figure 1.)
  4. Figure 1. The Break dialog box.

  5. Click on Next Page.
  6. Click on OK.
  7. Format the text in your cover page as you desire. You can even change headers, footers, and page margins. (If you change the page layout, make sure you only apply the changes to the section you used for your cover page.)

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (959) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Formatting a Cover Page.

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

Misbehaving Rulers

When upgrading from Word 2000 to 2002, many people have a problem with the Ruler function. This tip explains how to fix ...

Discover More

Can't Update Excel 2007 PivotTables in Excel 2003

If you create a PivotTable in Excel 2007, you may have problems editing or updating that PivotTable in Excel 2003. The ...

Discover More

Vertically Aligning Text and an Image

Getting your images and text positioned exactly where you want them can be a challenge. Here are the settings you need to ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! An easy-to-understand guide to the more advanced features available in the Microsoft 365 version of Word. Enhance the quality of your documents and boost productivity in any field with this in-depth resource. Complete your Word-related tasks more efficiently as you unlock lesser-known tools and learn to quickly access the features you need. Check out Microsoft 365 Word For Professionals For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Adjusting Margins in Print Preview

Print Preview is a great way to give a document the final "once over" before printing. Word allows you to do some minimal ...

Discover More

Adjusting Bottoms of Pages

When you allow Word to naturally flow your text through a document, you may find that the text on each page ends at a ...

Discover More

Adding a Break to Your Document

Want to modify the way your text flows between pages in a document? Word allows you to insert several types of breaks ...

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 six minus 6?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


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.