Word repeats a footer through a section by default. The right method depends on how many variations you need: Different First Page handles a cover page, Different Odd & Even Pages handles alternating pages, and section breaks let specific groups of pages have their own footer.
Double-click a footer to open Header & Footer tools. Turn on Different First Page if only the first page needs another footer. For facing pages in a book, turn on Different Odd & Even Pages, then edit the odd-page and even-page footers separately. These options do not make every page unique.
Combine these options with section breaks
Different First Page and Different Odd & Even Pages are set per section. If your document has several sections, check the option in each section where you need it. Each footer type also has its own Link to Previous switch, so when you unlink a section, click into the matching first-page, odd, or even footer and unlink that one too.
If Link to Previous is dimmed, you are editing the first section of the document, which has no earlier footer to link to. Insert a section break where the new footer should begin, as described below, and then unlink the footer in the new section.
- Place the cursor at the start of the page needing a different footer. Choose Layout > Breaks > Next Page under Section Breaks.
- If only that page needs the variation and later pages should return to the old footer, add another Next Page section break at the start of the following page.
- Double-click the footer in the page’s new section and turn off Link to Previous. Edit the footer.
- In the section after the unique page, turn off Link to Previous there too, then enter or copy the footer you want on later pages. Check each section in Print Preview.
For a different footer on every page, each page needs its own section, which can become hard to maintain when editing changes pagination. Use first-page or odd/even settings where they meet the requirement. Our different footers by section guide covers the section workflow in more detail.
Headers and footers have separate Link to Previous switches. Unlinking a footer does not automatically unlink a header. Likewise, a page number field can still continue its sequence across sections unless you change Format Page Numbers.
Sources: Microsoft Support: Different sections; Microsoft Support: Odd and even pages.
Matt has been writing about Microsoft Windows and other Microsoft products since the days of Windows XP. He spends much of his time writing for sites like WindowBrain.com