Using X of Y in a Page Footer

Terry remembers that "back in the day" he could add a page footer to a worksheet such as "Page X of Y," where X is the current page and Y is the total number of pages. He can no longer remember how to add such a footer, however.

Actually, there are two ways you can add such a footer to your worksheets. The traditional method (which is probably what Terry is seeking) is to follow these steps:

1. Click the Page Layout tab of the ribbon.
2. Click the small icon at the bottom-right of the Page Setup group. Excel displays the Page Setup dialog box.
3. Make sure the Header/Footer tab is displayed. (See Figure 1.)



Figure 1. The Header/Footer tab of the Page Setup dialog box.

4. Click the Custom Footer button. Excel displays the Footer dialog box. (See Figure 2.)



Figure 2. The Footer dialog box.

5. Place the insertion point in whichever section of the footer you want used for the page information—left, center, or right.
6. Type Page followed by a space.
7. Click the Page Number tool. The code "&[Page]" appears in the footer.
8. Type a space, the word of, and another space.
9. Click the Pages tool. The section now contains "Page &[Page] of &[Pages]."
10. Close all the dialog boxes by clicking OK, as necessary.

It should be noted that you don't have to really use the page number tool or the pages tool in putting the footer together. You could just as easily have typed the proper code ("Page &[Page] of &[Pages]") in whatever footer section you wanted used.

The second method of adding such a footer is to follow these steps:

1. Display the Insert tab of the ribbon.
2. Click the Header & Footer tool, in the Text group. Excel immediately switches to Page Layout view, displays the Header & Footer tab of the ribbon, and positions the insertion point in the center section of the header.
3. Near the left end of the ribbon, click the Footer tool. Excel displays various footer options.
4. Choose the "Page 1 of ?" option. Excel adds the proper code to the center section of the footer and hides the Header & Footer tab of the ribbon.
5. Display the View tab of the ribbon.
6. Click the Normal tool. Your worksheet is returned to a normal view.

It doesn't really matter which of the techniques you use to add the desired footer. Both of them place the exact same code into the footer.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (13925) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365.