How to add page numbers to a PDF (skip the cover, Page 1 of N)

How to · Updated 2026-11-10

Number a PDF's pages from any start, leave the cover and contents blank, or stamp Bates numbers across several files. Formulas and a worked example.

To add page numbers to a PDF, decide which page gets the first number and what that number is, then stamp a label on every page from there to the end. The page numbers tool does this on your device: choose the PDF, set Start at and Skip first pages, check the preview line and press Add and download.

What you need

• The finished PDF. Number last. If pages still need moving or deleting, do that first with organise PDF, because numbers are drawn onto the page and do not move with it.
• Your rule for the front pages. Should the cover and contents page be blank? Should the first numbered page read 1, or carry on from an earlier part?
• For legal bundles, the prefix your team uses (often a short case or client code) and how many digits the numbers should have.

Step by step

Two numbers control everything: the skip (how many opening pages get no label) and the start (the label on the first numbered page). For page p of the file, counting from 1:

label on page p = start + (p − skip − 1), for every page after the skipped ones

N in “Page x of N” = start + (total pages − skip) − 1

So N is the last label used, not the file’s page count.

Bates numbers work the same way, with a fixed prefix and the number padded with zeros to a set width:

Bates label = prefix + the number written with leading zeros to D digits

When a second file continues the series, its start is the first file’s start plus its page count.

With the tool:

1. Choose your PDF.
2. Pick the Type: Page numbers, or Bates numbers (legal).
3. Pick the Position: bottom centre, bottom right, bottom left, or the same three along the top.
4. For page numbers, choose a Style: 1, Page 1 or Page 1 of N. For Bates, type a Prefix (up to 20 characters) and the number of Digits (1 to 10, 6 to begin with).
5. Set Start at and Skip first pages, and a Font size from 6 to 40 (11 at first).
6. Optionally fill Header text or Footer text. Inside them, {date} becomes today’s date and {file} the file’s name. They sit in the centre; if a number shares that spot, the text is nudged inward so the two do not overlap.
7. Read the preview line, which quotes the first and last labels, then press Add and download. You get a new copy ending in “-numbered”; the original is not touched.

A worked example

A report with front pages. A 14-page report has a cover and a contents page. You want the first page of text to read “Page 1 of …”.

• Skip = 2, start = 1, style Page 1 of N.
• N = 1 + (14 − 2) − 1 = 12.
• Page 3 of the file: 1 + (3 − 2 − 1) = 1, so it reads Page 1 of 12.
• Page 14 of the file: 1 + (14 − 2 − 1) = 12, so it reads Page 12 of 12.

The preview line says: 14 pages, first numbered page “Page 1 of 12”, last “Page 12 of 12”. Pages 1 and 2 stay clean.

Two files in one Bates series. A legal team must number two files in one run. The first has 40 pages, the second 23. Prefix SMITH-, 6 digits, bottom right, skip 0.

• File 1: start 1. Labels run from SMITH-000001 to SMITH-000040.
• File 2: start = 1 + 40 = 41. Labels run from SMITH-000041 to 41 + 23 − 1 = 63, so the last is SMITH-000063.

Six digits keep every label the same width, so they sort in order as text.

Check your answer

• Read the preview line before you download. If the last label is not what you worked out, the start or skip is wrong.
• Count the gap in a Bates series. The last label of one file plus 1 must equal the first label of the next. No numbers should be missing or repeated.
• Look at the corners at 100% zoom. If the number runs into a page footer or a margin note, move it to another position or lower the font size.

Questions people ask

Can the numbering start at a number other than 1? Yes. Set Start at to any number, for example 25 for a chapter that continues an earlier file. “Page x of N” then ends at the last label, such as 25 + 10 − 1 = 34 for a 10-page chapter.

Can I number a file written in Arabic, Hindi or Chinese? The number itself works, but header and footer text has to use Latin letters, digits and common symbols for now.

How do I add a “Draft” or “Copy” mark as well? Add it afterwards with watermark PDF, which writes your own words across the page, or puts a Received, Approved or Paid stamp with the date in a corner.