Start page numbers from page 3

In a thesis, annual report or quotation, the cover page and the table of contents have no number. Numbering starts at 1 on page 3. In Word you do this with a section break and "Link to Previous". In LibreOffice you use two page styles.

In LibreOffice Writer

The idea: pages 1 and 2 get a style without a footer, and from page 3 you use the Default style with a page number.

Step 1: create a style without a footer

1. Press F11 (or choose View > Styles). In the sidebar, click the icon for Page Styles.
2. Right-click Default and choose New....
3. On the General tab, type a name such as Front matter under Name and also choose Front matter under Follow Style.
4. On the Footer tab, untick Footer on (and if needed, untick Header on on the Header tab). Click OK.

Step 2: restart at 1 from page 3

1. Is there already an ordinary page break between pages 2 and 3? Remove it first, otherwise you will get a blank page.
2. Place the cursor at the start of the first line on page 3.
3. Choose Insert > More Breaks > Manual Break.... Choose Page Break, select Default under Page Style, tick Change page number and enter 1. Click OK.

Step 3: assign the styles and insert the number

1. Place the cursor on page 1 and double-click Front matter in the sidebar. Pages 1 and 2 now have no footer.
2. Place the cursor on page 3 and choose Insert > Page Number... (see Adding headers, footers and page numbers). Page 3 gets number 1.

Tip: only want the cover page without a number? Then it's simpler: place the cursor on page 1 and double-click First Page under the page styles in the sidebar. That style applies to that one page only; after it, the document continues with Default.

In Euro-Office

1. Place the cursor at the end of page 2. Go to Layout, Breaks, Insert section break, Next Page.
2. Double-click in the footer of page 3 and turn off Link to Previous.
3. Insert the page number, click Page Numbering and set Start at to 1.
4. Clear the footer on pages 1 and 2.

Step by step with screenshots in Start page numbers from page 3. This works the same way as in Word.