This article outlines how to remove headers and footers in Google Docs from a desktop and the mobile app.

What To Know

  • Desktop: Double-click the header or footer section. Go to Options > Remove footer or Remove header.Mobile: Three-dotted menu at the top right, Print layout, then edit button, select header or footer, erase it.

Removal involves opening that section of the document and using the delete option. The Google Docs website and mobile app go about this in different ways.

From the Website

On the website, you can delete headers and footers in a few quick steps.

  • Locate the page with the header or footer you want to remove. If it’s the same on each page, just choose one of them.
  • Double-click the header or footer section.
  • Use the Options menu to the right to select Remove header or Remove footer.

From the App

Deleting headers and footers in the Google Docs mobile app is just as easy as doing so on a desktop.

Locate the page with the header or footer you want to remove. If it’s the same on each page, just choose one of them.

Double-click the header or footer section.

Use the Options menu to the right to select Remove header or Remove footer.

  • With the document open, use the three-dotted menu at the top right to choose Print layout.
  • Tap the edit button on the bottom.
  • Select the header or footer you want to delete, and erase it. If it’s an image, you can tap it to find the delete option.
  • Tap the checkmark at the top left to save.

Tips To Remember

There are a few ways Google Docs deals with headers and footers, so knowing what will happen in each circumstance is important to avoid confusion: You can have the first page of the document have a different header or footer than the other pages, and you can set up a different header/footer for odd and even pages.

With the document open, use the three-dotted menu at the top right to choose Print layout.

Tap the edit button on the bottom.

Select the header or footer you want to delete, and erase it. If it’s an image, you can tap it to find the delete option.

Tap the checkmark at the top left to save.

Here’s what to know:

  • If the first page of the document is using a different header/footer than the other pages (i.e., the Different first page box is checked), deleting it will not remove it from the other pages.Similarly, if the first page uses a unique header or footer, removing it from the second page (or third, fourth, etc.) will remove it from all the other pages, too (excluding the first page).If the Different odd & even option is chosen, removing a header or footer will only delete it from that series. For example, if the footers for the first six pages are 1, Red, 3, Red, 5, and Red, removing the footer 3 will erase the other numbers but keep the colors.

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