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How to add chapter title to header or footer in a Word document

Author: Xiaoyang Last Modified: 2025-04-10

Normally, you can easily insert the document path or file name into the header or footer in Word. But what if you want to automatically display the current chapter title in the header or footer, based on the page's position in the document? This tutorial shows you how to do it using the built-in "StyleRef" field feature in Word.

Add chapter title to header or footer in Word document

Add chapter title to header or footer in Word document

To insert each chapter title into the header or footer, use the "Quick Parts" feature with a styled heading. Here’s how:

  1. Apply a paragraph style (like "Heading 1") to your chapter titles by selecting the title text, then clicking "Heading 1" in the "Styles" group under the "Home" tab. This tells Word which text to automatically pull into the header or footer.
    Applying Heading 1 to titles
  2. Go to "Insert" > "Header" or "Footer" and choose a style you like.
    Header styles on the ribbon
  3. Click "Quick Parts" > "Field" under the "Header & Footer" or "Design" tab.
    Field option on the ribbon
  4. In the Field dialog box, do the following:
    • Select "Links and References" from the "Categories" dropdown.
    • In the "Field names" list, choose "StyleRef".
    • In the "Style name" list, select "Heading 1" (or whichever style you used for chapter titles).
      Field dialog box
  5. Click "OK". The chapter title will now appear in the header or footer, based on the page’s position in the document.
    The chapter title is inserted into the header

Notes:

  • If there's more than one "Heading 1" on a page, only the first one will appear in the header or footer.
  • The header or footer will update automatically when the chapter title changes.

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