Headers and footers are widely used to show addition information such as chapter name, page numbers to keep the document organized. By default, MS Word sets the same headers and footers on each page, but sometimes we need to create different headers or footers for odd and even pages. This article is going to introduce the method to set different odd and even header/footer using Spire.Doc in C#.

Note: Before Start, please download the latest version of Spire.Doc and add Spire.Doc .dll in the bin folder as the reference of Visual Studio.

Step 1: Create a new document and load from file.

Document document = new Document();
document.LoadFromFile("T1.docx"); 

Step 2: Add a section and set the property true.

Section section = document.Sections[0];
section.PageSetup.DifferentOddAndEvenPagesHeaderFooter = true;

Step 3: Create odd and even footer, odd and even header, and set their format.

//add EvenFooter
Paragraph P1 = section.HeadersFooters.EvenFooter.AddParagraph();
TextRange EF = P1.AppendText("Even Footer Demo from E-iceblue Using Spire.Doc");
EF.CharacterFormat.FontName = "Calibri";
EF.CharacterFormat.FontSize = 20;
EF.CharacterFormat.TextColor = Color.Green;
EF.CharacterFormat.Bold = true;
P1.Format.HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignment.Center;
           
//add OddFooter
Paragraph P2 = section.HeadersFooters.OddFooter.AddParagraph();
TextRange OF = P2.AppendText("Odd Footer Demo");
P2.Format.HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignment.Center;
OF.CharacterFormat.FontName = "Calibri";
OF.CharacterFormat.FontSize = 20;
OF.CharacterFormat.Bold = true;
OF.CharacterFormat.TextColor = Color.Blue;

//add OddHeader
Paragraph P3 = section.HeadersFooters.OddHeader.AddParagraph();
TextRange OH = P3.AppendText("Odd Header Demo");
P3.Format.HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignment.Center;
OH.CharacterFormat.FontName = "Calibri";
OH.CharacterFormat.FontSize = 20;
OH.CharacterFormat.Bold = true;
OH.CharacterFormat.TextColor = Color.Blue;

//add EvenHeader
Paragraph P4 = section.HeadersFooters.EvenHeader.AddParagraph();
TextRange EH = P4.AppendText("Even Header Demo from E-iceblue Using Spire.Doc");
P4.Format.HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignment.Center;
EH.CharacterFormat.FontName = "Calibri";
EH.CharacterFormat.FontSize = 20;
EH.CharacterFormat.Bold = true;
EH.CharacterFormat.TextColor = Color.Green;

Step 4: Save the document and launch to see effects.

document.SaveToFile("R.docx", FileFormat.Docx2010);
System.Diagnostics.Process.Start("R.docx");

Effects:

Full code:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using Spire.Doc;
using Spire.Doc.Documents;
using Spire.Doc.Fields;
using System.Drawing;

namespace Mirror_Margin
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Document document = new Document();
            document.LoadFromFile("T1.docx");
            Section section = document.Sections[0];

            section.PageSetup.DifferentOddAndEvenPagesHeaderFooter = true;

            Paragraph P1 = section.HeadersFooters.EvenFooter.AddParagraph();
            TextRange EF = P1.AppendText("Even Footer Demo from E-iceblue Using Spire.Doc");
            EF.CharacterFormat.FontName = "Calibri";
            EF.CharacterFormat.FontSize = 20;
            EF.CharacterFormat.TextColor = Color.Green;
            EF.CharacterFormat.Bold = true;
            P1.Format.HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignment.Center;
           

            Paragraph P2 = section.HeadersFooters.OddFooter.AddParagraph();
            TextRange OF = P2.AppendText("Odd Footer Demo");
            P2.Format.HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignment.Center;
            OF.CharacterFormat.FontName = "Calibri";
            OF.CharacterFormat.FontSize = 20;
            OF.CharacterFormat.Bold = true;
            OF.CharacterFormat.TextColor = Color.Blue;

            Paragraph P3 = section.HeadersFooters.OddHeader.AddParagraph();
            TextRange OH = P3.AppendText("Odd Header Demo");
            P3.Format.HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignment.Center;
            OH.CharacterFormat.FontName = "Calibri";
            OH.CharacterFormat.FontSize = 20;
            OH.CharacterFormat.Bold = true;
            OH.CharacterFormat.TextColor = Color.Blue;

            Paragraph P4 = section.HeadersFooters.EvenHeader.AddParagraph();
            TextRange EH = P4.AppendText("Even Header Demo from E-iceblue Using Spire.Doc");
            P4.Format.HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignment.Center;
            EH.CharacterFormat.FontName = "Calibri";
            EH.CharacterFormat.FontSize = 20;
            EH.CharacterFormat.Bold = true;
            EH.CharacterFormat.TextColor = Color.Green;

            document.SaveToFile("R.docx", FileFormat.Docx2010);
            System.Diagnostics.Process.Start("R.docx");
        }
    }
}

Adding page numbers to your Word documents can enhance their organization and readability. Page numbers provide a convenient reference point for readers and make it easier to navigate through lengthy documents. Whether you're working on a report, thesis, or any other document, incorporating page numbers is a simple yet effective way to improve its overall structure and accessibility.

In this article, you will learn how to add page numbers to a Word document in C# by using the Spire.Doc for .NET library.

• Add Page Numbers to a Word Document
• Add Page Numbers to a Specific Section in a Word Document
• Add Different Page Numbers to Different Sections in a Word Document

Install Spire.Doc for .NET

To begin with, you need to add the DLL files included in the Spire.Doc for.NET package as references in your .NET project. The DLL files can be either downloaded from this link or installed via NuGet.

PM> Install-Package Spire.Doc

Add Page Numbers to a Word Document in C#

To achieve the dynamic addition of page numbers to a Word document, Spire.Doc for .NET offers a range of fields, including FieldPage, FieldNumPages, and FieldSectionPages. These fields act as placeholders for the current page number, total page count, and section page count, allowing you to customize and automate the display of page numbers in your document.

To incorporate these placeholders (usually in the header or footer section) within your Word document, you can utilize the Paragraph.AppendField() method.

The following steps outline how to add a FieldPage field and a FieldNumPages field in the footer, resulting in the display of "X/Y" format in the document.

• Create a Document object.
• Load a Word document from a specified file path.
• Get the first section using Document.Sections[index] property
• Get the footer of the first section using Section.HeadersFooters.Footer property.
• Add a paragraph to the footer using HeaderFooter.AddParagraph() method.
• Insert a FieldPage field, a FieldNumPages field and a "/" to the paragraph using Paragraph.AppendField() and Parargph.AppendText() methods.
• Save the document to a different Word file.

using Spire.Doc;
using Spire.Doc.Documents;
using System.Drawing;

namespace AddPageNumbersToDocument
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            // Create a Document object
            Document document = new Document();

            // Load a Word file
            document.LoadFromFile("C:\\Users\\Administrator\\Desktop\\Privacy Policy.docx");

            // Get the first section
            Section section = document.Sections[0];

            // Get the footer of the section
            HeaderFooter footer = section.HeadersFooters.Footer;

            // Add "page number / page count" to the footer
            Paragraph footerParagraph = footer.AddParagraph();
            footerParagraph.AppendField("page number", FieldType.FieldPage);
            footerParagraph.AppendText(" / ");
            footerParagraph.AppendField("page count", FieldType.FieldNumPages);
            footerParagraph.Format.HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignment.Center;

            // Apply formatting to the page number
            ParagraphStyle style = new ParagraphStyle(document);
            style.CharacterFormat.Bold = true;
            style.CharacterFormat.FontName = "Times New Roman";
            style.CharacterFormat.FontSize = 18;
            style.CharacterFormat.TextColor = Color.Red;
            document.Styles.Add(style);
            footerParagraph.ApplyStyle(style);

            // Save the document
            document.SaveToFile("AddPageNumbersToDocument.docx");

            // Dispose resources
            document.Dispose();
        }
    }
}

Add Page Numbers to a Specific Section in a Word Document in C#

By default, page numbers in the footer of a section are automatically linked to the previous section, ensuring a continuous display. However, if you wish to add page numbers to a specific section only, you need to unlink the subsequent section from the previous section and remove the content of the footers in the subsequent sections.

The following are the steps to add page numbers to a specific section in a Word document using Spire.Doc for .NET.

• Create a Document object.
• Load a Word document from a specified file path.
• Get a specific section using Document.Sections[index] property
• Get the footer of the section using Section.HeadersFooters.Footer property.
• Restart page numbering from 1 by setting Section.PageSetup.RestartPageNumbering property to true and Section.PageSetup.PageStartingNumber property to 1.
• Insert a FieldPage field, a FieldSectionPages field and a "/" to the footer using Paragraph.AppendField() and Parargph.AppendText() methods.
• Disable "Link to previous" by setting HeadersFooters.Footer.LinkToPrevious propety to false.
• Delete the content of the footers in the subsequent sections
• Save the document to a different Word file.

using Spire.Doc;
using Spire.Doc.Documents;
using System.Drawing;

namespace AddPageNumbersToSpecificSection
{ 
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            // Create a Document object
            Document document = new Document();

            // Load a Word file
            document.LoadFromFile("C:\\Users\\Administrator\\Desktop\\Privacy Policy.docx");

            // Get a specific section
            int sectionIndex = 1;
            Section section = document.Sections[sectionIndex];

            // Restart page numbering from 1
            section.PageSetup.RestartPageNumbering = true;
            section.PageSetup.PageStartingNumber = 1;

            // Get the footer of the section
            HeaderFooter footer = section.HeadersFooters.Footer;

            // Add "page number / page count" to the footer
            Paragraph footerParagraph = footer.AddParagraph();
            footerParagraph.AppendField("page number", FieldType.FieldPage);
            footerParagraph.AppendText(" / ");
            footerParagraph.AppendField("page count", FieldType.FieldSectionPages);
            footerParagraph.Format.HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignment.Center;

            // Apply formatting to the page number
            ParagraphStyle style = new ParagraphStyle(document);
            style.CharacterFormat.Bold = true;
            style.CharacterFormat.FontName = "Times New Roman";
            style.CharacterFormat.FontSize = 18;
            style.CharacterFormat.TextColor = Color.Red;
            document.Styles.Add(style);
            footerParagraph.ApplyStyle(style);

            // Disable "Link to previous" in the subsequent section
            document.Sections[sectionIndex + 1].HeadersFooters.Footer.LinkToPrevious = false;

            // Delete the content of the footers in the subsequent sections
            for (int i = sectionIndex + 1; i < document.Sections.Count; i++)
            {
                document.Sections[i].HeadersFooters.Footer.ChildObjects.Clear();
                document.Sections[i].HeadersFooters.Footer.AddParagraph();
            }

            // Save the document
            document.SaveToFile("AddPageNumbersToSection.docx");

            // Dispose resources
            document.Dispose();
        }
    }
}

Add Different Page Numbers to Different Sections in a Word Document in C#

To ensure that different sections have distinct page numbers, you need to get each section in the document, add page numbers to them separately, and restart page numbering from 1 at the beginning of each section.

The following are detailed steps.

• Create a Document object.
• Load a Word document from a specified file path.
• Iterate through the sections in the document.
  • Get a specific section using Document.Sections[index] property
  • Get the footer of the section using Section.HeadersFooters.Footer property.
  • Restart page numbering from 1 by setting Section.PageSetup.RestartPageNumbering property to true and Section.PageSetup.PageStartingNumber property to 1.
  • Insert a FieldPage field, a FieldSectionPages field and a "/" to the footer using Paragraph.AppendField() and Parargph.AppendText() methods.
• Save the document to a different Word file.

using Spire.Doc;
using Spire.Doc.Documents;
using System.Drawing;

namespace AddDifferentPageNumbersToDifferentSections
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            // Create a Document object
            Document document = new Document();

            // Load a Word file
            document.LoadFromFile("C:\\Users\\Administrator\\Desktop\\Privacy Policy.docx");

            // Iterate through the sections in the document
            for (int i = 0; i < document.Sections.Count; i++)
            {
                // Get a specific section
                Section section = document.Sections[i];

                // Restart page numbering from 1
                section.PageSetup.RestartPageNumbering = true;
                section.PageSetup.PageStartingNumber = 1;

                // Get the footer of the section
                HeaderFooter footer = section.HeadersFooters.Footer;

                // Add "page number / page count" to the footer
                Paragraph footerParagraph = footer.AddParagraph();
                footerParagraph.AppendField("page number", FieldType.FieldPage);
                footerParagraph.AppendText(" / ");
                footerParagraph.AppendField("page count", FieldType.FieldSectionPages);
                footerParagraph.Format.HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignment.Center;

                // Apply formatting to the page number
                ParagraphStyle style = new ParagraphStyle(document);
                style.CharacterFormat.Bold = true;
                style.CharacterFormat.FontName = "Times New Roman";
                style.CharacterFormat.FontSize = 18;
                style.CharacterFormat.TextColor = Color.Red;
                document.Styles.Add(style);
                footerParagraph.ApplyStyle(style);
            }

            // Save the document
            document.SaveToFile("AddDifferentPageNumbersToSections.docx");

            // Dispose resources
            document.Dispose();
        }
    }
}

Apply for a Temporary License

If you'd like to remove the evaluation message from the generated documents, or to get rid of the function limitations, please request a 30-day trial license for yourself.

Spire.Doc for .NET enables developers to add, modify and remove text and Image header for word documents easily. We have already shown you how to insert header for all the pages and only add header for the first page in word document in C#. This article will focus on demonstrate how to remove the header for all the pages in word document and only remove the header for the first page in C#.

In the example, we will load a word document with headers. And then we will show you how to remove the header only from the first page and all the pages independently.

Check the word document with headers:

Step 1: Create a new document and load from file.

Document doc = new Document();
doc.LoadFromFile("Sample.docx");

Step 2: Get the first section of document.

Section section = doc.Sections[0];

Step 3: Remove the header only from the first page of word document.

//This is necessary
section.PageSetup.DifferentFirstPageHeaderFooter = true;
section.HeadersFooters.FirstPageHeader.ChildObjects.Clear();

Step 4: Remove the header for all the pages.

section.HeadersFooters.Header.ChildObjects.Clear();

Step 5: Save the document to file.

doc.SaveToFile("output.docx", FileFormat.Docx);

Effective screenshot of the removal of the header:

Full codes:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using Spire.Doc;
using System.Drawing;
using Spire.Doc.Documents;
using Spire.Doc.Fields;

namespace RemoveHeader
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Document doc = new Document();
            doc.LoadFromFile("Blues.docx");
            Section section = doc.Sections[0];
            //This is necessary
            section.PageSetup.DifferentFirstPageHeaderFooter = true;
            section.HeadersFooters.FirstPageHeader.ChildObjects.Clear();
            //section.HeadersFooters.Header.ChildObjects.Clear();
            doc.SaveToFile("output.docx", FileFormat.Docx);
            System.Diagnostics.Process.Start("output.docx");
        }
    }
}

A document can have one or more pages. It is probably easy to add a header for all pages of the document. If you want to add the header only for the first page of the document, Spire.Doc for .NET component can provide you an easy and flexible solution to handle it. The following steps will guide how to add a header into the first page of a document using Spire.Doc for .NET component in C#. In the example, the header is got from an existing document.

Step 1: Load a word document, documen1.docx.

Document document1 = new Document();
document1.LoadFromFile("D:\\document1.docx");

Step 2: Get the header of document1.docx.

HeaderFooter header = document1.Sections[0].HeadersFooters.Header;

Step 3: Load another word document which will be added the header, document2.docx.

Document document2 = new Document();
document2.LoadFromFile("D:\\document2.docx");

Step 4: Get the first page header of document2.docx.

HeaderFooter firstPageHeader = document2.Sections[0].HeadersFooters.FirstPageHeader;

Step 5: Specify that the current section has a different header/footer for the first page.

foreach (Section section in document2.Sections)
{
section.PageSetup.DifferentFirstPageHeaderFooter = true;
}

Step 6: Removes all child objects in firstPageHeader.

firstPageHeader.Paragraphs.Clear();

Step 7: Add all child objects of the header to firstPageHeader.

foreach (DocumentObject obj in header.ChildObjects)
{
firstPageHeader.ChildObjects.Add(obj.Clone());
}

Step 8: Save document2.docx to a new document, header.docx.

document2.SaveToFile("D:\\Header.docx"", FileFormat.Docx);

Full code:

Document document1 = new Document();
document1.LoadFromFile(@"..\..\document1.docx");
Document document2 = new Document();
document2.LoadFromFile(@"..\..\document2.docx");
HeaderFooter header = document1.Sections[0].HeadersFooters.Header;
HeaderFooter firstPageHeader = document2.Sections[0].HeadersFooters.FirstPageHeader;

foreach (Section section in document2.Sections)
{
section.PageSetup.DifferentFirstPageHeaderFooter = true;
}

firstPageHeader.Paragraphs.Clear();
foreach (DocumentObject obj in header.ChildObjects)
{
firstPageHeader.ChildObjects.Add(obj.Clone());
}

document2.SaveToFile("Header.docx", FileFormat.Docx);

Screenshots:

document1.docx:

document2.docx:

Header.docx: