Headers, Footers & Page Numbers

Headers and footers are separate ZIP parts (word/header1.xml, word/footer1.xml) referenced from w:sectPr via r:id. Three types exist, matching PHPWord: default (odd), first page, and even page.

AddHeader / AddFooter

Signature

func (s *Section) AddHeader(typ ...string) *Header
func (s *Section) AddFooter(typ ...string) *Footer

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
typ	...string	element.HeaderAuto ("default"), element.HeaderFirst ("first"), element.HeaderEven ("even"). Omitted → default.

Header and Footer embed Container, so AddText, AddImageBytes, AddPreserveText, AddPageNumber, and AddNumPages all work.

Page fields

Signature

func (c *Container) AddPreserveText(text string, styles ...any) *PreserveText
func (c *Container) AddPageNumber() *Field
func (c *Container) AddNumPages() *Field
func (d *Document) SetDifferentFirstPage(enable bool)
func (d *Document) SetEvenAndOddHeaders(enable bool)

Call	OpenXML
AddPreserveText("PAGE")	w:instrText with PAGE
AddPageNumber()	w:fldChar + PAGE field
AddNumPages()	NUMPAGES field
SetDifferentFirstPage(true)	w:titlePg on w:sectPr
SetEvenAndOddHeaders(true)	w:evenAndOddHeaders in settings

Notes

• First-page headers are ignored unless SetDifferentFirstPage(true).
• Even-page headers are ignored unless SetEvenAndOddHeaders(true).
• Fields show their cached value until the user right-clicks → Update Field (or prints).

Complete example

package main

import (
	"log"

	"github.com/yunkeweb/go-word"
	"github.com/yunkeweb/go-word/element"
)

func main() {
	doc := word.New()
	doc.SetDefaultFontName("Calibri")
	doc.SetDifferentFirstPage(true)
	doc.SetEvenAndOddHeaders(true)

	sec := doc.AddSection()
	sec.AddHeader().AddText("GoWord — odd pages")
	sec.AddHeader(element.HeaderFirst).AddText("GoWord — cover")
	sec.AddHeader(element.HeaderEven).AddText("GoWord — even pages")

	f := sec.AddFooter()
	f.AddText("Page ")
	f.AddPreserveText("PAGE")
	f.AddText(" of ")
	f.AddNumPages()
	sec.AddFooter(element.HeaderFirst).AddText("Cover footer")

	sec.AddTitle("Headers and page numbers", 1)
	sec.AddText("This is the first page (cover header).")
	sec.AddPageBreak()
	sec.AddText("Second page uses the odd header.")
	sec.AddPageBreak()
	sec.AddText("Third page uses the even header.")

	if err := doc.Save("headers.docx"); err != nil {
		log.Fatal(err)
	}
}

Word shows three different headers across three pages, with PAGE / NUMPAGES in the default footer. Print layout or print preview refreshes the fields.