How to remove page numbers from the first page.

Learn how to remove page numbers from the first page of your important Word or PDF documents.

It’s a common style guideline not to include a page number on a document’s first or title page — yet many automatic page numbering tools add one by default. Fortunately, it's fast and easy to correct a mistake like this. Read on to learn how to remove page numbers from Word and PDF documents’ first page.

Remove first-page numbering from Word files.

With Word documents, removing the page number on the first page is quick and easy. Just follow these steps (if you’ve already added page numbers, skip to step 5):

1. Launch Word and open your document.
2. Select the Insert tab in the top toolbar.
3. Select Page Number in the Header & Footer section.
4. Select a page numbering style from the drop-down menus.
5. Double-click on the first page number and tick the Different First Page box.

After this process, the numbering on your second page may start from 2. If you need to correct this, select Insert > Page Number > Format Page Numbers, and set the Start At value to 0. Your second page should now be page 1.

Remove first-page numbering from PDF files.

It can be difficult to remove page numbers directly from PDF documents. The easiest option is to convert the PDF file into Word with Adobe Acrobat online services. Then, simply follow the above steps.

After fixing the page numbers, consider converting the Word document into a PDF file. It’s easier and safer to share important documents as PDF files, since you can ensure no one can accidentally make any changes, like adding page numbers back to the first page.

Discover what more you can do with Acrobat online services today.