In this article we will discuss proper Headers, Footers, and Section Breaks in Microsoft Word. You can set a Header and footer for each section, but certain rules and setups will make them behave oddly.
Jump To: Quickly: What are Headers & Footers? | Editing Headers & Footers | Creating Sections | Unlinking Headers & Footers from a Previous Section | Conclusion
Quickly: What are Headers & Footers?
A Header is the area above the body of the text. Typically it contains the same information on each page. One might add a company logo, or the title of a manuscript in this area.
A Footer is the area below the body of the text. Typically it contains the same information on each page, such as the page's number, or the name of the document.
By default, a Word document begins with only one section, thus headers and footers will appear the same throughout the document (except for instances such as page numbering, where the numbers equal the page count).
Editing Headers & Footers
To edit a header or footer, simply double-click into the desired area. The body of the document will grey (or washout) while you're in these areas. Pressing the Escape key or double-clicking the body of the document leaves the header and footer areas, greying those upper and lower areas out.
Creating Sections
To add a section in Microsoft Word, head to the Layout tab, then select Breaks > Section Breaks, and then select the section break type you desire.
When selecting the header or footer now, the section number will appear. Now the document is broken into two sections. By selectiong the Pilcrow ( ¶ ) button in Microsoft's Ribbon (Home > Paragraph area > ¶), Word will show where the section break begins, nad the type of break it is. The Pilcrow button shows hidden formatting marks that will not print.
Different sections can have different attributes. For example, Section 1 can be a document in portrait view, while Section 2 can be in landscape view.
Unlinking Headers & Footers from a Previous Section
By default, the header and footer content are linked when you insert a new section. This means what you add to a header in Section 1 will also be added to Section 2. To delete or edit the headers and/or footers independently you must first unlink them from the previous section. Each section can have up to three headers and footers, and each part must be unlinked separately.
To unlink sections:
Select inside the header or footer section you wish to unlink. Microsoft Word will automatically open the Header & Footer tab in the Ribbon.
In the Navigation area of the Header & Footer tab, deselect the Link to Previous button.
In the Header & Footer tab, be sure the Different First Page check box in the Options area is turned off, or you might begin to see alternative headers within the same section.
Complete this for both header and footer to unlink each.
You may now add different text or images to the headers and footers without them interfering with other sections.
Note that images work well within headers and footers when set to Tight Wrap to Text.
In Conclusion
Headers and footers are useful when the need for uniformity amongst pages is present. Creating sections allows the document to use different headers and footers for different areas, but sometimes it can be tough separating them. Unlink properly, and you'll be able to create beautiful, and different section headers and footers for your document.
Nice!