I just don’t want to have to do it manually on every page
How do I instantly add page numbers to every page in a document as I am able to do in Microsoft Word
This answer is actually written in the help manual. Sure this is the system design. With me, there may be something else wrong. What is printed is not a page number but the text “page number”. I have been looking at questions answers and there is an answer but does not apply in my case. I just write this note to inform who may have a similar problem, a further notice, or a complementary.
See the answer to this question I follow the insert page number field procedure an I get "Page numbers" instead of the actual page numbering
You must first understand a few important differences between M$ Word and LO Writer. Writer is heavily based on “styles”. They are everywhere to provide consistent “repeatable” models for document entities.
One of the styles category is page style. It defines all intrinsic properties of a page: orientation, margins, background, header, footer, …
Header and footer will be repeated on every page. This is where page numbers “naturally” belongs. Consequently, you must first enable header or footer on page style definition.
-
display the style side pane with
F10and click on the fourth small icon (the one with a small page figure - Page Styles) -
right-click on the desired page style and choose
ModifyIn your case it is likely you use only a single style, i.e. Default Style.
-
go to the
Footertab and enable footer, checking Header on -
click
OK
Next, put the cursor in the footer area (it is easier to see the exact footer location if you View>Formatting Marks or >Nonprinting Marks in older versions) and Insert>Fields>Page Number.
Tune the layout to your taste as you would for any paragraph. The best way is to customise paragraph style Footer.
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