Quickly remove all headers and footers in Word
We've looked at the Document Inspector as a tool for preparing Office documents for public release. It's great for finding and deleting private and hidden details. But it can also be helpful for other tasks, such as removing headers and footers in Word documents.
If you only have one header and footer, this is a pretty easy task to delete it. Just double-click the top or bottom of the page to open the Design tab, click the Header (or Footer) button and select the Remove option. But if your document is long and complex with different headers/footers on different pages, it's a little more daunting. Unless you know this helpful trick.
In Word 2010, go to the File tab, click the large Check for Issues button, and select Inspect Document:
In Word 2007, Inspect Document is under the Microsoft Office Button and the Prepare menu item.
Now uncheck all boxes EXCEPT Headers, Footers, and Watermarks. Note: This tool also remove any watermarks from your document.
Click Inspect and you should see a result like this if you have headers, footers, or watermarks in your document:
Simply click Remove All to delete these. Note that you cannot undo the removal, so be sure to first save a version of the document with these elements intact if you wish to retain them.
Suzanne
Comments
Anonymous
April 23, 2011
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April 23, 2011
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October 19, 2011
Thanks a ton! Saved lot of time from removing header/footer for almost 120 pages.Anonymous
December 26, 2011
oh no :( i want remove header and footer from many file :( But, thanksAnonymous
January 17, 2012
Thank you so much! I've been trying to fix my header and footer wonkiness ~ very helpful.Anonymous
February 07, 2012
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge Suzanne!!Anonymous
March 07, 2012
Indeed, great trick and thank you for posting it.Anonymous
March 28, 2012
Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!! a million times!Anonymous
July 06, 2012
Thanks so much! Saved me a ton of time with a 300-page document!Anonymous
November 09, 2012
Worked like a charm, thanks :)Anonymous
November 23, 2012
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November 30, 2012
There is NO "Remove al" on your last step!Anonymous
December 12, 2012
Thank You!!! save a lot of time for me today.Anonymous
December 13, 2012
Super-Big help, this was. Thank you.Anonymous
December 18, 2012
So kind of your for sharing this :)Anonymous
March 15, 2013
it didnt work for me i tryed it twice it says there was none found but clearly they are on there grrrrrrrr......Anonymous
March 19, 2013
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April 07, 2013
I can't get rid of my headers and footers!! Every time I open word they're still there. I don't need them!!Anonymous
April 12, 2013
It didn't find header/footer information. I have a space for the header & footer built in with no wording added in. The space at the top & bottom of the document needs to be deleted. Help!Anonymous
June 06, 2013
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June 28, 2013
GREAT SUGGESTION!!! I cleaned out a 335 page document with multiple headers and footers in no time. If I did this manually It would have taken at least an hour.Anonymous
July 02, 2013
Thank you!!!! This was SO helpful!Anonymous
July 31, 2013
Thanks! Do you also have a tip on how to refresh cross-references in all headers & footers in one go?Anonymous
September 02, 2013
This response does not address my question. I want to change Header Sections 14, 26, 34, etc. to Section 1. In other words I want to edit the header on page 1 and find the same edit on the ret of the pages in my document. It's ridiculous to have to make the same changes to every header in my document!Anonymous
September 08, 2013
Thank you so much for this clear explanation of this simple problemAnonymous
September 17, 2013
Many thanks! Brilliant tip! :)Anonymous
October 15, 2013
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November 12, 2013
Thank you so much....Saved loads of time !!!!!!!!!!!!!!