You can add a page-number marker to your pages to specify where a page number sits on a page and how it will look. Because a page-number marker updates automatically, the page number it displays is always correct even as you add, remove, or rearrange pages in the document.

Page number on master A (left), and page 5 based on same master (right)

Each InDesign document can contain up to 9999 pages, but page numbers can be as large as 99,999 (for example, you can correctly number a 100-page document that starts on page 59,001). By default, the first page is a recto (right) page numbered 1. Odd-numbered pages always appear on the right; if you use the Section Options command to change the first page number to an even number, the first page becomes a verso (left) page.

To add an automatically updated page number:

1. Do one of the following to specify where the page-number marker appears:
   * If you want a page number to appear on all pages based on a master,
   double-click the master in the Pages palette.
   * If you want the page number to appear on a specific page only,
   double-click a page in the top half of the Pages palette.
2. On the master or page, position the type tool   where you want a page number to be added, then drag to create a new text frame large enough to hold the longest instance of the page number and any text you want to appear next to the page number, such as the section marker or document name.
3. With a blinking insertion point positioned in the new text frame, do any of the following:
   * Type any text that you want to accompany the page number, such as the document name.
   * Use the Insert Section Name command to add custom section marker text.
4. Choose Type > Insert Special Character > Auto Page Number. If the automatic page number is on a master page, it displays the master page prefix. On a document page, the automatic page number displays the page number. On a pasteboard, it displays PB.

The Auto Page Number command is also available in a context menu under the Insert Special Character command. To see the context menu, position the text insertion point in the page number text frame, and right-click (Windows) or Control+click (Mac OS).

Insert Section Marker (left), and Insert Page Number Marker (right)