Page number disappears in Word

Hello,

First of all, don't forget to save such important work in multiple geographical locations and on different media (another hard drive, CD, USB stick).

Just in case, check for any updates (in Word => Help => Check for Updates).

Look at the print settings.
For example, when you press the Command (cmd) and P (print) keys. In the panel that opens, go to Paper Handling => check "Scale to fit paper size", then in "Suggested Paper", choose A4 with no margins (if possible).

Otherwise, set the size of the headers or footers, and possibly the sizes of the top and bottom margins depending on where your numbering is located.

Best regards.
Pierre

It’s not easy to give a concrete answer to a "problem" whose parameters are not very clear.

A priori, we obviously think of a section break with different settings in the section (or sections) corresponding to the last 40 pages. But you don't provide details from that perspective.

In itself, it's not surprising that the PDF gives the same results as the printout, since it's the print settings that Mac OS X uses for PDF creation. Let's say it tends to show that the problem does originate from the document. But we suspected that, of course.

If there is indeed a section break that corresponds to the change in behavior, see if you can delete it or set the footer settings to "same as previous."

Otherwise, provide more details and think about specifying the concerned version of Word; that could help things...

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Hello to you!
Bernard

Thank you both very much for your responses!

Aliboron Martin, regarding the section breaks: there are indeed some right where the problem starts - noting that there are also plenty before the problem, and after as well. I haven’t noticed any different parameters between the section preceding and the section following the problem, but I probably haven’t thought of everything... I will check the "same as previous" setting.
My version of Word is WordMac 2011.

Pierrephoto: I didn't think to check for updates (I'm not really sure what that entails, but I will look into it). For the footers, that could be a solution, but could that be the source of the problem? Can Word decide that "no, I’m changing the footers here"?

I’m doing my tests and I’ll keep you posted!

We don't always think of everything! You should go to "Format" > "Document" > "Margins..." and make sure that the margins suggested to you are suitable for both the body of the document and for the headers and footers. Then, apply them to "Whole document" (check the selection in the dropdown menu).

Another point to check, possibly, is the formatting of the footer: is the "Link to Previous" box in the "Header and Footer" tab of the ribbon checked when you position yourself in the footer of the first section where the setting change is noticeable?

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Hello to you!
Bernard

Hello!
A thousand apologies for the late response! I've followed the recommended procedures, and here are the results.
The margins are fine (consistent throughout the document and quite large).
There was indeed a section where the footers were not linked to the previous section. And that's where the problem started. I celebrated victory, linked the sections together, and created a new PDF. And then surprise: still no number on the last pages, and what's more, the issue now extends one section higher than before!!
So it's definitely in the footers where the problem lies, but I don't understand how a defect in section B can affect section A when they’re linked: shouldn't B adopt the format of A instead? I’ll continue the investigation…

Rumh... I just realized that other sections, higher up, were not linked to each other. I linked everything that wasn't, and now my PDF is no longer paginated at all. So there is a logic to all this, but I don't understand where I'm making a mistake.
When I check "link to previous section," Word gives me a warning that basically says, "Do you want to delete the footer formatting and replace it?" Is that the problem?

Hello,

I wonder if renumbering the pages might be the solution.

Switch to page mode, then, Insert => Page Number.
Select your options and check "start numbering on the first page"

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Sincerely.
Pierre

New episode of the saga!
I just realized that the first section of my document wasn't numbered. (It was originally to look nice, I forgot about it, and we can do without it). So I added numbers to it.
I launched my PDF. And then: Word outputs two PDFs. One for the first section and one for everything else! But everything is numbered. That's something...
Does anyone understand what's going on?

Good evening,
Apparently, one PDF per section.
Can't you make a single total section?

Cause: A page break was manually inserted.
Solution: Remove the manual page break.
In the View menu, click on Draft.
In the document, select the manual page break, then press DEL.

Cause: Word inserted an automatic page break based on a setting.
Solution: Disable the settings that caused the page break to be inserted.
Select the paragraph following the unwanted page break.
In the Format menu, click on Paragraph, then on the Line and Page Breaks tab.
Disable the checkboxes for Keep with next, Keep lines together, and Page break before.

Cause: A Next Page, Even Page, or Odd Page section break is responsible for the insertion of a page break.
Solution: Modify the section break settings.
Click in the section immediately following the section break.
In the Format menu, click on Document, then on the Layout tab.
In the Section Start context menu, click on Continuous.
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Sincerely,
Pierre

findethèse :
I open my PDF. And then: Word outputs two PDFs. One for the first section, and one for everything else! But everything is numbered. That’s already something...
Does anyone understand this?

Yes, it’s "normal," it’s an old gag that Apple and Microsoft have been passing back and forth for years... Basically, each section break is treated by the system as a new document at the time of printing. On a paper printer, this doesn’t show. But with a PDF, it causes a problem. With older versions, each PDF file bore the same name as the previous one, causing them to overwrite each other, and in the end, only the last one remained. With the latest versions, Microsoft made sure to generate as many files as there are sections, which at least allows you to retrieve and combine them (for example, with Preview).

When there’s no change in paper orientation in the document, there’s a workaround: the printing module of Mac OS X relies on the last modified date to determine the section breaks. If, at the time of printing, you make a (minor) change in the header or footer (which is assumed to be common to all sections), the last modified date will be the same across all sections and the printing will occur as a single document. From your description, you should be able to manage it this way (for example, without touching the footer, but typing a character in the header (if it’s common) and then deleting it, for instance).

However, when there’s a change in paper orientation, that won’t work. All you can do is wait patiently for this issue to be resolved. Apple always promises it will be addressed "in a future update" (and there has already been a subtle advance in one of the recent updates of Snow Leopard). Maybe one day Pages will allow orientation changes...

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Hello to you all!
Bernard