Thesis & Long Documents
How to Number Pages by Chapter (e.g. 3-1, 3-2) in LaTeX
Some institutions require page numbers formatted as chapter-page (e.g., 3-1 for the first page of Chapter 3). Here's how to set this up in LaTeX.
Using the chappg Package
The simplest approach — the chappg package handles everything:
\documentclass{report}
\usepackage{chappg}
\begin{document}
\chapter{Introduction} % Pages: 1-1, 1-2, ...
Some text...
\newpage
More text...
\chapter{Methods} % Pages: 2-1, 2-2, ...
Methodology here...
\chapter{Results} % Pages: 3-1, 3-2, ...
Results here...
\end{document}Manual Approach (Without Extra Package)
If you can't use chappg, set it up manually with renewcommand:
\documentclass{report}
\usepackage{fancyhdr}
\renewcommand{\thepage}{\thechapter-\arabic{page}}
% Reset page counter at each chapter:
\let\oldchapter\chapter
\renewcommand{\chapter}{%
\setcounter{page}{1}%
\oldchapter
}
\begin{document}
\chapter{Introduction}
Page shows as 1-1, 1-2, etc.
\end{document}💡 Tips
- •The chappg package is the cleanest solution — use it unless your template conflicts
- •Chapter-page numbering only makes sense for report or book class (not article)
- •Cross-references with \pageref will automatically show the chapter-page format
- •Some universities accept standard sequential numbering — check before implementing this
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