How to Add a Header and Footer in Word
Word for Microsoft 365 on Windows; Mac differences noted · Last checked · Suggest an edit
https://instructions.wiki/microsoft-word/add-a-header-and-footer-in-word
The line at the top of the page looks right on one page and wrong on another, or it refuses to delete. Headers and footers are not part of the body text. They sit in a separate layer that repeats across every page in a section, so editing one copy changes all of them.
Insert the header or footer
Click Insert, Header, and pick a built-in layout, or choose Edit Header to start with an empty area. Footers work the same way through Insert, Footer. The cursor moves into the header area and the body text dims.
Add page numbers and other fields
With the area open, the Header & Footer tab appears on the ribbon. Use Page Number for automatic numbering, Date & Time for a date that can update on its own, and Document Info for the file name, path, or author. These are fields, so they refresh instead of being retyped.
Leave the title page blank
On the Header & Footer tab, check Different First Page to give page one its own empty header and footer. Check Different Odd & Even Pages when a bound document needs the page number on the outside edge of each spread. Both settings apply to the current section only.
Adjust the distance from the page edge
Still on the Header & Footer tab, set Header from Top or Footer from Bottom. The default is 0.5 inch. If the header crowds the body text, widen the top margin under Layout, Margins instead of shrinking this value.
Close the area and reopen it later
Click Close Header and Footer, or double-click anywhere in the body text. To get back in, double-click the top or bottom margin of any page.
On Mac. Open the area with Insert, Header and Footer; the same buttons then appear on the Header & Footer tab.
A header that changes between chapters needs a section break. Put the cursor where the new chapter starts, choose Layout, Breaks, Next Page, then open the header in the new section and turn off Link to Previous on the Header & Footer tab. Until that button is off, the new section inherits the header before it, and editing either one changes both.
Sources. Insert a header or footer, Edit your existing headers and footers in Word, Configure headers and footers for different sections of a Word document.