How to Start Page Numbers from Page 3 in Microsoft Word: Step-by-Step Guide

Many students, educators, and professionals struggle with formatting documents in Microsoft Word. One common challenge is starting page numbers from a specific page (like page 3), while leaving the title page and table of contents unnumbered.

In this tutorial, you'll learn a step-by-step method to achieve this in Word without using any external software or plugins.

For a more detailed guide with screenshots, see:

Gupta, A. (2025). How to Start Page Numbers from Page 3 in Microsoft Word (Step-by-Step Guide). PickupBrain. Retrieved from https://www.pickupbrain.com/ms-word/start-pageno-from-page3/

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Step 1: Insert a Section Break

1. Place your cursor at the end of page 2 (the page before numbering should start).
2. Navigate to the Layout tab → Breaks → Next Page (Section Break).

This creates a separate section, allowing different formatting for headers and footers.

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Step 2: Add Page Numbers

1. Move to page 3 (where numbering should start).
2. Go to Insert → Page Number → select the position (top or bottom of page).
3. Choose your preferred numbering style.

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Step 3: Unlink from Previous Section

1. Double-click the footer on page 3 to open the Header & Footer Tools.
2. Click Link to Previous to turn it off.

This ensures page numbers in the new section are independent of the previous pages.

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Step 4: Restart Numbering

1. Go to Page Number → Format Page Numbers.
2. Select Start at: 1.

Page 3 will now display “1,” and numbering continues sequentially for the rest of the document.

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Tips & Best Practices

• Use this method for theses, dissertations, research papers, or project reports.
• If your document has multiple chapters with different numbering styles, repeat the section break method at each chapter start.
• Keep your formatting consistent across sections (headers, footers, font, margins).

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References

• Gupta, A. (2025). How to Start Page Numbers from Page 3 in Microsoft Word (Step-by-Step Guide). PickupBrain. Retrieved from https://www.pickupbrain.com/ms-word/start-pageno-from-page3/

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