WD: Header or Footer Text Overlaps Page Number

If you insert a page number in your header or footer using the Page Number command on the Insert menu, text in your header or footer overwrites the page number instead of wrapping around it. This happens even though you select the Around option under Text Wrapping in the Format Frame dialog box.

This problem occurs only if the page number is framed. It does not occur if the page number is unframed or if the framed page number is located in the body text of your document.

When you use the Page Number command on the Insert menu to add a page number to your document, Word places the page number in a frame. By design, frames behave differently in a header or footer than in the body text of your document. Specifically, in a header or footer, frames behave like text boxes, which means text overwrites them.

However, if you move the framed page number into the body of your document, text wraps around the page number instead of overwriting it. That is, a framed page number behaves like any other frame in the body of your document.

If you do not want text to overwrite the page number in your header or footer, follow these steps to remove the frame from it:

1. Select the frame.
2. On the Format menu, click Frame.
3. Click Remove Frame.

For additional information about objects wrapping in headers and footers, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: