MS WORD: how to use the page number in footer and use it in the text

Question

I have a Word document, with the page number appearing in the footer. And in the document I have a text saying something like this:

This document have X pages

Is there anyway to get the number in the document footer and automatically update the information in the text?

Thanks

Answer 1

Place your cursor where you want to have the page count appearing then follow these steps:

1. Place your cursor where you want to have the page count to appear
2. Ctrl + F9 -> Curly brackets will appear
3. Type NUMPAGES within the curly brackets
4. While the cursor is still within the curly brackets hit F9

Finished!

Assuming you have Microsoft Word 2007 or higher you can also do the same with these steps:

1. Place your cursor where you want to have the page count to appear
2. Insert -> Quick Parts -> Field...
3. Select NumPages on the left side
4. Click OK

Both ways provide you the exact same result.

You just inserted a so called Field in Microsoft Word representing the total page count of your document. It will automatically update once you print preview the document or when you place the cursor over the field and hit F9.

You can use many different fields for different purposes.

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Update

According to your comment you want to have the total number of pages minus the first page. Microsoft describes how you can calculate the total number in such a case in their support article here.

Therefore use there steps:

1. Place your cursor where you want to have the page count to appear
2. Ctrl + F9 -> Curly brackets will appear
3. Enter =
4. Again press Ctrl + F9 -> another curly brackets will appear within the first ones
5. Type NUMPAGES within the second pair curly brackets
6. Enter - 1 after the second curly brackets but still within the first ones. Now it should look like this {={NUMPAGES} - 1}
7. While the cursor is still within the curly brackets hit F9

In case you have more then one front page just increase the number to subtract.