Footnotes, Page Numbers, Headers and Footers

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About this lesson

How to insert page numbers, special characters, page breaks, headers and footers.

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Footnotes, Page Numbers, Headers and Footers Solution
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Quick reference

Footnotes, Page Numbers, Headers and Footers

The “Insert” tab allows you to add several different non-text elements to Google Docs.

When to use

When you want to add footnotes, special characters, lines, page numbers, page breaks, headers, or footers.

Instructions

Add a footnote

  • Place the cursor where you want to add a footnote
  • Click “Insert”
  • Click “Footnote”
  • Write the desired text in the footnote

Add a special character

  • Place the cursor where you want to add the characters
  • Click “Insert”
  • Click “Special characters”
  • Click the dropdown menus to find certain types of characters, search for a character with the search box, or draw a character in the “draw symbol” box
  • Click on the symbols you want to add to the document

Add a horizontal line

  • Click “Insert”
  • “Horizontal line”

Add page numbers

  • Click “Insert”
  • Click “Page numbers”
  • The left options insert page numbers starting with 1 on the first page
  • The right options insert page numbers starting with 1 on the second page, leaving the first page free for a title page

Add page count

  • Click “Insert”
  • Click “Page count”

Add a jump to the next page

  • Click “Insert”
  • Click “Page break”

Add a jump to the next column

  • Click “Insert”
  • Click “Column break”

NOTE: Only applies to columns.

Add a header or footer

  • Click “Insert”
  • Click “Header” or “Footer”

NOTE: This adds a space at the top or bottom of each page where you can put text or images. Anything you put in a header or footer will be repeated on every other header or footer.

To make the first page header and footer different

  • Click inside the header or footer on the first page
  • Click “Different first page header/footer”

NOTE: This is useful for making the first page into a title page

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  • 00:04 Let's continue with our look at what else we can insert into our Google document.
  • 00:10 We've already taken a look at how we can add things such as images, or links, or
  • 00:14 even charts within our document.
  • 00:17 But what about the rest of the options that are available to us here
  • 00:20 within the insert menu.
  • 00:23 Once again, we have the option to add a comment.
  • 00:26 And we've already taken a look at how we can add a comment in various places within
  • 00:30 our document.
  • 00:31 But we have that option available to us here again.
  • 00:34 You can also add a footnote to your document.
  • 00:38 To do so, just select the area of text that you would like to reference, select
  • 00:43 insert footnote and then you can add that information at the bottom of that page.
  • 00:50 You can also insert special characters by selecting this option here.
  • 00:55 Sometimes, you may wish to add a character which is not readily available
  • 00:59 on your keyboard.
  • 01:01 You can choose the variety of characters available here or search by keyword.
  • 01:06 We can also insert a horizontal line into our document.
  • 01:11 This can be very helpful if you're wanting to create
  • 01:14 some separation between certain pieces or certain portions of your document.
  • 01:20 We can also add page numbers to our documents.
  • 01:23 And here, we get a choice of what area of the page in which we would like those page
  • 01:27 numbers to appear.
  • 01:29 I'm gonna start by selecting page numbers in the top right hand corner.
  • 01:34 And here you can see I have those page numbers now added at the top
  • 01:38 of those pages.
  • 01:41 Next we have page count.
  • 01:43 If you have a certain portion of your document which you would like to show
  • 01:47 the total number of pages, you can add this option,
  • 01:50 and that total page count will appear within your document.
  • 01:55 Page break can be a very helpful addition when you're working with your
  • 01:59 Google document.
  • 02:00 This allows you to quickly add blank pages or new pages to your document.
  • 02:06 And here you see I've now extended this document to four pages in total.
  • 02:11 This is much more convenient than simply hitting the enter key on your keyboard.
  • 02:18 Lastly, we have the ability to edit our header and our footer within our document.
  • 02:24 By adding the header or footer, you can add text or images into this area
  • 02:31 of your document, which will reappear on each and every page of your document.
  • 02:36 So for example, if I want to add my name here in the corner of the document,
  • 02:42 that will reappear in each and every page as a part of the header,
  • 02:47 and the same applies with the footer as well.
  • 02:51 Lastly, you do have the ability to add a bookmark to
  • 02:55 a certain portion of your document, and
  • 02:57 even to add a table of contents depending on what type of document you are crafting.
  • 03:04 So get familiar with the different functions,
  • 03:07 the different features that you can insert or add to your document.
  • 03:11 There is so much more available to you than just text.

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