What the MLA Header Actually Is (and Where It Goes)
The MLA format header is a four-line block of identifying information that sits at the top-left of your first page. It appears once, on page one only. What appears on every page, including page one, is a separate running header in the top-right corner containing your last name and the page number.
Those two things have the same name in casual conversation but they are formatted differently, they live in different places, and confusing them is what sends most students looking for this page at eleven at night.
Here is the rest of what you need to set it up.
Start your document with one-inch margins on all four sides. Set the entire document to double-spacing before you type anything. Use 12-point Times New Roman, or whichever readable 12-point font your instructor accepts. Do not change the font size for the header block. Do not bold it.
The four lines run flush left in this order. Your full name on line one. Your instructor’s full name on line two, with the appropriate title (Professor, Dr., and so on). The course name and number exactly as it appears on your syllabus on line three. The date on line four, written day-month-year with no comma - 14 May 2025.
After the date, hit enter once (your document is already double-spaced, so this gives you one double-spaced gap), then type your title centered on its own line. One more double-spaced line, then your first paragraph begins, indented half an inch.
For the running header in the top-right corner, you need to work in your word processor’s header section rather than in the body of the document. The text is your last name, a space, then the auto-inserted page number. It should be flush right, same font, same size as the rest of the paper. It will print on every page automatically once you set it up there.
A First Page Written Out in Full
The block below shows exactly how page one looks. Every line break you see is a double-spaced line break. The running header in the corner is shown in brackets because it sits in a separate header layer, not in the body text.
[top-right corner, header layer: Rivera 1]
Maria Rivera
Professor Anand Kapoor
Introduction to Academic Writing, section 101
September 3 2025
The Ethics of Obligatory Voting in Democratic Systems
Compulsory voting laws exist in more than twenty countries, yet the debate over whether governments can legitimately require citizens to cast a ballot remains unsettled…
A first attempt usually reads something like this on the student’s screen:
Maria Rivera, Professor Kapoor, ENG 101, September 3 2025
The trouble is that cramming all four items onto a single line reads as a memo header, not an MLA document. A professor who has marked several hundred MLA papers spots it immediately. Each item needs its own line, and the whole block needs to be double-spaced at the same interval as the rest of the document. A tighter line spacing for the header and a wider one for the body is a second mistake that appears just as often - set double-spacing once, at the document level, before you type the first character.
When the Standard Setup Changes
Most first- and second-year courses accept the default rules above without modification. A few situations produce a different answer.
Some instructors require a cover page for longer work, typically anything over ten pages. If your assignment sheet says to include one, the four-line block moves to the cover page, centered and positioned in the middle of the sheet, and the body of the paper begins without it. The running header still starts on page one of the body text.
Creative writing courses and journalism programs sometimes use Chicago or AP style rather than MLA. If you are in a science or social science course, the style is almost certainly APA rather than MLA. When in doubt, look at the first sentence of your assignment prompt; it will name the style if your instructor cares about it. If it names nothing, MLA is the standard default for English and humanities courses.
Literature reviews, annotated bibliographies, and research proposals all use the same first-page block. The only part of the MLA header that changes for longer work is the cover page question above.
A department may also have its own preferences that sit on top of MLA. Some require the course section number after the course name. Some ask for your student ID on line two rather than the instructor’s name. Thirty seconds reading the assignment sheet saves thirty minutes reformatting the night before the due date.
Mistakes That Show Up in the Graded Copy
The running header is the piece people forget most often. A paper with no page numbers, or with page numbers typed manually at the bottom of the page rather than placed in the document’s header layer, looks unfinished and will mis-number itself if you add or delete text later. Go into the header layer and insert the number there; do not type it into the body.
Centering the four-line block is a consistent error. Every line of the header block is flush left. Only the title is centered.
Bolding or enlarging the title is another. The title sits in the same 12-point font as everything else. Underlining it is also wrong unless the title itself contains the name of a longer work (a novel, a film), in which case that name is italicized and the rest of the title is not.
Using today’s date when you started the paper rather than the date the paper is due, or using the American date format (May 14, 2025) rather than the MLA format (14 May 2025), are both worth fixing before you submit. They are small, but a professor reading a stack of papers notices them.
If the heading on your paper currently looks correct for a college paper in general rather than for MLA specifically, the post on college paper headings covers the broader conventions and explains where MLA sits among them.
One more thing worth checking before you submit is the Works Cited page at the end. It carries its own formatting rules. The header block does not extend to it. Works Cited is a separate page with its own title, centered, and with hanging indents on each entry. The running header with your last name and page number does continue onto it, so make sure your page numbering runs through to the end of the document rather than stopping at the last page of body text. A Works Cited page that lacks the running header, or that resets the page count, is easy to miss on screen but immediately obvious in print.
What to Do with the Rest of the Paper
With the header sorted, open your document, set margins to one inch on all sides, set double-spacing at the document level, drop in the four-line block, center the title, and write your first paragraph. If you are still working on the argument itself rather than the formatting, the guides on how to format and structure a college essay and on writing a research paper introduction cover the parts that come after the header.
If the whole paper still needs to be written and the deadline is close, the writers at college-paper.com handle 43 paper types across 111 subjects, with deadlines starting at three hours. Every paper is written from scratch and checked for originality before delivery. Prices depend on the type, length, deadline, and quality tier; the calculator works it out live. If you already have a draft and need it reviewed rather than written, editing and proofreading are sold separately through the same order form.
Frequently asked questions
does the mla header go on every page
The four-line information block on the first page is not repeated. What repeats on every page, including the first, is the running header in the top-right corner, which holds your last name and the page number. Those are two different things and mixing them up is the most common MLA header mistake.
what order do the lines go in for mla format
Your full name on line one, your instructor's name on line two, the course name and number on line three, and the date on line four. The date is written day-month-year in MLA style, so 14 May 2025 rather than May 14, 2025. Every line is double-spaced and flush left.
where does the title go in mla format
Directly after the four-line header block, still on the first page. It sits on its own line, centered, in the same font and size as the rest of the paper, with no bold, no italics, and no larger type. A double-spaced line separates it from the first line of your essay.
how do i add a last name and page number in word or google docs
In Word, go to Insert, then Header, and choose the blank option. Click into the header area, set alignment to right, type your last name followed by a space, then go to Insert and choose Page Number, then Current Position. In Google Docs, go to Insert, then Headers and footers, then Header, and use Insert, then Page numbers to place the number after your name.
does mla format need a title page
Standard MLA does not use a separate title page. The four-line header block on page one serves the same purpose. Some instructors require a cover page anyway, particularly for longer research papers, so check your assignment sheet before assuming the default applies.
what font and size does mla use
MLA recommends a readable 12-point font throughout. Times New Roman 12 is the most widely accepted, and most instructors expect it unless they say otherwise. The header block, running header, title, and body text all use the same font and size.