I have a book manuscript and the first chapter starts on the sixth page
Can someone tell me how to start numbering on that sixth page?
Thanks for you help
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I suppose that that sixth page was started through a page break. In that case, right click on the first paragraph of the sixth page → Paragraph (from 6.2, again Paragraph) → Text Flow tab → under Breaks check Insert, With page style and Page number → select the number you want.
If you want more information about the use of page styles (and styles in general), layout and more, check my free book about Writer 
@ RGB-es
thanks for your response…I did not start that 1st chapter page with a page break
As I didn’t is it possible to use a work around
Also please clarify "Paragraph (from 6.2, again Paragraph) "
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@provlima you cannot change page number without a change in page style, so you need to insert a page break there. For the menus, up to 6.1.x it’s right click → Paragraph, but on 6.2 a new “level” was added to the context menu and now it’s right click → Paragraph → Paragraph.
I’ve added a page break but can’t seem to find page style and page number that lets me select a page start number. Thanks for your help
1) Click in the footer.
To insert the page number, choose Insert > Fields > Page Number. The page number will be 1.
2) Click in the first paragraph in the text area.
Choose Format > Paragraph (or right-click and choose Paragraph from the context menu), to display the Paragraph dialog.
3) On the Text Flow page, in the Breaks section (Figure 92), select Insert and select Page in the Type drop-down list.
Select With Page Style and the page style you are using for the first page of the document.
4) Select Page number to make the field active.
Type the page number you want to start with. Click OK to close the Paragraph dialog.
(p.112 | LibreOffice Writer 6.0 Guide)
I’ve tried this and ended up with one sentence per page and almost two thousand pages
… which likely means that you have automatically updated paragraph style, so every direct change in paragraph formatting results in the style updated.
On a printed book, even numbers are found on the left hand page, odd numbers on the right. One would normally expect the first chapter to be on the right and have an odd number, unless it is a header page on the left facing the first text page on the right. Look at any book to check this.
If you start with an even page number and export it, say as a PDF, and start on an even page number, check that it does not insert a blank page to bring the even number to the left. This would normally be the default.
In addition for OP:
To make life easier, learn how to use styles. This is the only way to get a professional looking manuscript without meeting insurmountable difficulties when trying to find THE killer-formatting. With (manual) direct formatting, it is next to impossible to tune the layout.
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This ABSOLUTELY NOT the way to do it !!!
The Offset box is related to a feature similar to “see Next/previous page”. It does not change the page number. It references another page and gets the number from there. If the page does not exist, e.g. you’re near the beginning of the document for a negative offset or the end for a positive offset (then it is obvious that the designated page does not exist), you get a blank page number.
You describe a trick to outsmart Writer page numbering after the cover and TOC but you’re extremely vulnerable to any edit which changes the number of pages at start.
The correct, reliable and stable way to do it (with automatic update when the preceding number of pages changes) if through an Insert>More Breaks>Manual Break for a page break requesting a specific page style. In this dialog you can specify any starting page number you’d like.
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A preliminary remark: this is not a solution to the initial problem; it should not have been posted using an Answer but a Comment. So please, repost as a comment after mine so that we can start a neat “conversation” (Answers may be reordered according to relevance, which breaks the continuity between answers and comments).
As diagnosis of your specific issue requires more information about your way of using Writer, I propose we continue on private mail. Then I’ll summarise our conversation for the community.
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