Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Leading Zeros in Page Numbers.

Leading Zeros in Page Numbers

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 8, 2024)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365


Jackie asked if there was a way to include leading zeroes in the page numbers placed in a footer. She needs her page numbers to always be five characters long, with leading zeroes, as necessary, to fill out the length. Thus, page numbers would be 00001, 00002, etc.

Excel doesn't provide very good formatting for its page numbers. One solution (perhaps the most viable) is to print each page in your worksheet, one at a time, changing the page number as you go. This macro takes that approach:

Sub FormattedPageNums()
    Dim iPages As Integer
    Dim J As Integer
    Dim sFormat As String

    sFormat = "00000"
    ' Get count of pages in active sheet
    iPages = ExecuteExcel4Macro("Get.Document(50)")

    With ActiveSheet
        For J = 1 To iPages
            .PageSetup.CenterFooter = Format(J, sFormat)
            .PrintOut From:=J, To:=J
        Next J
    End With
End Sub

The macro discovers how many pages are in the entire printout, and then steps through each page of that printout. Prior to printing each page, individually, the .CenterFooter property is set equal to a formatted string that represents the page number with leading zeros.

You can modify the macro, as desired, to place different information in the footer. You could also change the area of the footer that is changed by using .LeftFooter or .RightFooter instead of .CenterFooter.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the ExcelTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (5655) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Leading Zeros in Page Numbers.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Formatting Currency

If you need to format a number so that it appears as currency, it is not as easy to do in Word as it is in Excel. You can ...

Discover More

Specifying the Default Printer

Windows allows you to define many printers that can be used with your system. Chances are good that one of those printers ...

Discover More

Creating Sparklines

Want a cool, small chart to show what your data is doing? You need a sparkline, discussed in this tip.

Discover More

Solve Real Business Problems Master business modeling and analysis techniques with Excel and transform data into bottom-line results. This hands-on, scenario-focused guide shows you how to use the latest Excel tools to integrate data from multiple tables. Check out Microsoft Excel 2013 Data Analysis and Business Modeling today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Putting a Different Date in a Header

Today's date is easy to add to a header, but what if you want to add a date that is adjusted in some manner? Adding ...

Discover More

Creating Long Page Footers

Ever wish that you could create nice, long footers that appear at the bottom of each page when you print your worksheet? ...

Discover More

Last Saved Date in a Footer

When printing out a worksheet, you may want Excel to include, in the footer, the date the data was last saved. There is ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is eight less than 8?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.