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: Using Continued Lines.

Using Continued Lines

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 26, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


3

One WordTips reader wrote about a special page numbering need for their organization. Besides placing a regular page number at the top of a page, on the previous page they place a footer that tells the upcoming page number. For instance, at the bottom of page 1 you might place "Continued on page 2." The question was how to place such a footer on each page except the last one, and how the proper page number can be placed there. This compound field allows you to place the proper information at the bottom of each page. A different footer appears on the last page.

{ IF { PAGE } < { NUMPAGES } "Continued on page {={PAGE} + 1}" "Last Page"}

Not the use of the incremented page number in the field so that the next page is always referenced. If you want to change the exact text that appears with the incremented page number, then simply change the info appearing between the quote marks, but outside the compound page number field. (In this case, it is the text 'Continued on page '.) In addition, if you don't want any footer to appear on the last page of the document, then delete the "Last Page" portion of the field (including the quote marks).

You can insert field braces by pressing Ctrl+F9 and you can nest different fields, as this tip requires, by using the same shortcut key. To create the desired footer, open your document and follow these steps.

  1. If the document has several sections, position the insertion point anywhere in the section where you want the footer to appear.
  2. Choose Header And Footer from the View menu. This displays the Header and Footer dialog box.
  3. Click on the Switch Between Header and Footer button to display the footer area of your document.
  4. Enter the compound field (as shown previously in this tip).
  5. With the insertion point within the compound field you created, press Shift+F9 to collapse the field.
  6. Click on Close in the Header and Footer toolbar.

When you create the fields, make sure you use the proper spelling of the field names, and that the quote marks are included as indicated.

When you use a field such as this, it is a good idea to either manually update the fields before printing or make sure Word is set to do this automatically. You can check this by following these steps:

  1. Choose Options from the Tools menu. This displays the Options dialog box.
  2. Click on the Print tab.
  3. Make sure the Update Fields check box is selected.
  4. Click on OK.

Now, whenever you print, Word first updates every field in the document before the first page is produced. This ensures that your footers appear as you desire.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1151) 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: Using Continued Lines.

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

Moving a Chart's Legend

Need to move a chart legend to a different place on the chart? It's easy to do using the mouse, as described in this tip.

Discover More

Quickly Changing Tab Alignment

Need to change the alignment of some tabs in a multitude of paragraphs? How you approach the problem depends on whether ...

Discover More

Clearing Only Filtering Settings

When you filter data in a worksheet, Excel also allows you to apply sorting orders to that data. Here is a ...

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2013. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2013 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Updating Fields in Locked Forms

Updating form fields in Word can be confusing, especially when the fields are locked in a form. This tips explains why ...

Discover More

Inserting the User's Initials

One of the pieces of information tracked by Word are your name and initials. You can insert your initials by using the ...

Discover More

Selecting a Field

Do you need to select a field? It is as simple as selecting a single character, as this tip explains.

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 five more than 3?

2014-07-06 09:44:14

Miguel Antonio Suárez

Hi Allen: When I say "...advertisement at the right side of the first paragraph..." I mean a big box with Google ads blocking suggested footer. Maybe, this can make clear what I mean. Once again, thanks for your attention.


2014-07-06 08:40:40

Peter Kirkpatrick

I have a small question. You say this:

"...if you don't want any footer to appear on the last page of the document, then delete the "Last Page" portion of the field (including the quote marks)."

I would have thought you needed to retain the quotation marks thus [ "" ] to retain the two alternative values for the IF field. Why are you able to omit them here?


2014-07-05 11:19:03

Miguel Antonio Suárez

Hey, Allen, advertisement at the right side of the first paragraph blocks the end part of the suggested footer. Would be nice to show the solution in a place different to the blockage in order to display the suggested footer fully. Thanks a lot!


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.