Applies To
Word for Microsoft 365 Word for Microsoft 365 for Mac Word for the web Word 2024 Word 2024 for Mac Word 2021 Word 2021 for Mac Word 2019 Word 2019 for Mac Word 2016

Change or delete the header or footer from the first page

  1. Double-click the first page header or footer area.

  2. Check Different First Page to see if it's selected. If not:

    • Select Different First Page.

    • Content of the header or footer on the first page is removed.

    Header ribbon options with Different first page selected

    Note: Different First Page is a toggle, so be sure you're turning it on.

  3. Add your new content into the header or footer.

  4. Select Close Header and Footer or press ESC to exit.

    The Close Header button

Change or delete a header or footer from another single page

To delete or change headers and footers on individual pages within a document, start by inserting a section break.

Important: Section breaks are different from page breaks. If you already have a page break before the page where you want to change the header or footer, remove a page break and replace it with a section break as shown below.

  1. Click or tap where you want to start a new page without the header or footer.

  2. Go to Layout > Breaks > Next Page to create a section break.

    Section break for next page

  3. Double-click the header or footer area to open the Header & Footer tab.

  4. Select Link to Previous to turn off the link between the sections.

    Header/Footer Link to previous button
  5. Select Header or Footer and do one of the following:

    • Choose Remove Header or Remove Footer .

    • Add or change the content in the header or footer.

    (You’ll need to repeat steps 3-5 if you want to delete or change both the header and the footer.)

  6. To return to the body of your document, select Close Header and Footer or press ESC.

    The Close Header button

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