If you’re writing a paper, and need to have the front-matter’s page numbers in roman numerals (i, ii, iii, iv, etc.), and the remainder of the paper in arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.), this how-to is for you.

The key is to create distinct “Sections” in the document, however, Microsoft has made this ridiculously difficult in Word for Mac 2011.

Steps 1: Remove page numbering from all pages:

1. Go to ‘View -> Header & Footer’
2. Select and delete the numbering
3. Close the Header & Footer

Step 2: Show all nonprinting characters:

1. Click on the backwards ‘P’ on the right of the ‘Redo’ button ¶
   This shows all characters and formatting that don’t show up when printed but are essential for formatting

Step 3: Create new Sections:
Creating multiple sections in a document allows you to apply different formatting (i.e. page numbering) to different sections

1. To create a new section, go to the end of the previous page and click ‘Insert -> Break -> Section Break (Next Page)’
2. You will see the non-printing section break in blue ¶====== Section Break (Next Page) ====== 

(Tip: to delete a section break, position the cursor before the section break, then select the section break by holding shift and pressing the right arrow key.  Once highlighted, press the delete key to remove the section break).

Step 4: Make your Sections distinct:

1. Navigate to the section you want, and click on ‘View -> Header and Footer’
   !HERE IS WHERE IT GETS TRICKY!
2. You will notice that the previous page reads “Header -Section 1- | Close (x)” and the next page reads “Header -Section 2- | Same as Previous | Close (x)”
   “Same as Previous” is WRONG, it will apply the same page numbering to Section 2 as Section 1, and I can’t fathom why Microsoft made this the default
3. Click on ‘Header and Footer’ on the purple ribbon on the top of the screen on the right of ‘Home’ and under the ‘Save’ icon button.  (This only appears once you click on ‘View -> Header and Footer’).
4. Click the cursor into Section 2′s header, then under the ‘Header and Footer’ ribbon, deselect ‘Link to Previous’.  Do the same for Section 2′s footer.

Step 5:  Apply numbering:

1. Click into the header/footer in the section you want to apply the numbering to.
2. Click “Insert -> Page Numbers…” and make sure to set the appropriate settings (e.g. Show on first page, type of numbering, start at (#) )
3. Do the same for the other Section

(Note: If the numbering is somehow applying to both Section 1 and Section 2, go back into the header and footer ribbon and ensure that “Link to Previous” us unchecked for Section 2′s header and footer.  This is likely the cause, as this version of Word seems to reset this value to default on its own.)

Enjoy!

Resources:

• http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/mac/forum/macoffice2011-macword/restart-page-numbering/3fedbe64-c12b-41d0-8ec2-b40ba5cd9658?tab=MoreHelp
• http://forums.macworld.com/index.php?/topic/136693-unlink-header-or-footer-in-ms-word-2011/
• http://www.msofficeforums.com/word/5980-word-page-numbers-footers.html