How to have different header for each page in MS Word

The header is a part of a document located at the top margin of each page. It’s useful for showcasing additional information like the title, author, page number, or objects and images that add design to your document. 

However, even experienced users may have difficulties when documents require more than one header, such as with corporate or academic documents. The cover page, the main text, and other pages in different orientations can all have dissimilar headers. 

Fortunately, MS Word offers several ways to add different headers on each page. 

2 Ways to Have a Different Header on Each Page in MS Word

  • Using preset header options
  • By inserting section breaks


Method 1: Using the Preset Header Options

In this method, we’ll show you how to use the Design tools to configure two different header options.

The first approach is helpful if you simply want your first page to have a different header from the rest of the document. The other approach allows you to set up two different headers for each odd and even page. 

Here are the steps to access the Design tools of the header. 

Step 1: Open up a Word file. 

Step 2: Access the header section. 

Once our document is ready, go to the Insert tab and click the Header drop-down menu. Then, select the Edit Header option found at the bottom of the menu. 

Alternatively, you can double-click the top margin of your document to access the header section. 

Step 3: Access the header design tools. 

Now that the header section is enabled, you will be directed to the Header & Footer Design tab. Here, you’ll see two options to choose from: Different First Page and Odd & Even Pages

If you want the first page to have a different header from the rest of your document, tick the Different First Page checkbox. 

On the other hand, tick the checkbox next to Odd & Even Pages if you want the odd-numbered pages to have a different header from the even-numbered pages. 

Step 4: Insert content into your header. 

Insert your content accordingly to each header. Once done, double-click outside the header section to go back to the main text or press the Close Header and Footer button.  


Method 2: By Inserting Section Breaks

Section breaks identify the point at which a section ends and another one starts. Having section breaks help in organizing the different sections of your document. This way, you’ll find it easier to configure different headers for each page. 

Step 1: Open up an MS Word file. 

Step 2: Insert section breaks. 

Once our document is ready, move your cursor to the start of the page that you want in a different header and click on it. Then, go to the Layout tab and click the Breaks drop-down menu. Finally, select the Next Page option in the selection. 

For this example, we’ll insert the section break between the first and second paragraph. So, we’ll place our cursor right at the start of the second paragraph and insert a section break there. 

Now, place your cursor at the end of the section and repeat the process. You’ll notice that MS Word inserted paragraph spaces before and after the section and moved it separately to a page.

Step 3: Access the header section. 

Go to the Insert tab and click the Header drop-down menu. Then, select Edit Header from the list of options. 

Alternatively, you can simply double-click the top margin of the page to access the header section. 

Step 4: Unlink section header. 

In order to set up a different header for the page we’ve recently created, we’ll need to unlink it to the previous header format. So, with your cursor still inside the header section, click on the Link to Previous button found on the Header & Footer Design tab. 

You can now insert your content in the header section. Take note that you’ll have to repeat the same process for each section that you want to have a different header. 

To go back to the main text, simply double-click outside the header or press the Close Header and Footer button. 

There you have it! You’ve just inserted section breaks to have a different header on each page in MS Word. 


Editing and Deleting Different Headers 

To edit or delete different headers, all you need to do is access the Header and Footer Design tab using the steps discussed above.

Remember that your headers are different because they are in different sections. So, each header section is accessible and should not affect the others as you edit or delete them. 


Conclusion

That wraps it up for today! Hopefully, we’ve helped you figure out how to have a different header on each page in MS Word.

3 thoughts on “How to have different header for each page in MS Word”

  1. I was hoping to find a simple way of accomplishing different headers on each page. The first method is simple but only accomplishes this for a 3 page or less document. Using presets does not allow you to have a different header on each page; it allows you to have a different header on the first page then two different headers for the odd and even pages. Using this method, if you have more than three pages you cannot have different headers on each page.

    The second method does allow for different headers on each page however it is much more labor intensive if you have a lot of pages.

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  2. I agree with Laurel Wainwright. The instructions were clear enough, but the actual process is far too convoluted. If I am submitting a sixty page short story for consideration, I have a mountain of work just to get the information required into the header, as each page requires unique header information. Wordperfect had a much better header system, far more intuitive. Unfortunately, Microsoft conquered the world and now all magazines and book publishers request Doc or Docx only. Surely your developers could come up with something better.

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