MLA Format Heading and Header: First-Page Setup Guide

The MLA first page is built from two separate pieces that students routinely merge. The heading is the four-line block at the top left of page 1. The header is the last name and page number that rides in the top-right corner of every page. Set up the header first, because it lives in the document’s header area and is controlled by the word processor; then type the heading as ordinary text.

Here is the finished first page of a fictional paper, with margins and spacing as they print.

                                                          Raghunathan 1

Priya Raghunathan

Professor Ana Delgado

ENGL 1102: Composition and Literature

30 September 2026

            Why the Narrator of "The Lamplighter" Cannot Be Trusted

     The narrator of Halvorsen's "The Lamplighter" describes the same

night three times, and the details shift on each telling. Readers who

take the first version at face value miss what the story is doing ...

The header (“Raghunathan 1”) sits half an inch from the top edge, flush right. The heading begins at the one-inch top margin, flush left. The title is centered on the line after the date, with no extra blank line. The text starts on the next line with a half-inch first-line indent. Every line on the page is double-spaced.

The heading, line by line

The heading uses four lines in a fixed order. No labels, no bold, no colons except inside a course name, no blank lines between.

Line 1: Your name. First and last, as you are registered in the course. No titles or student numbers unless the instructor requires them.

Line 2: Instructor’s name. In the form the instructor uses: “Professor Ana Delgado,” “Dr. Ana Delgado,” or simply “Ana Delgado.” Check the syllabus and copy it.

Line 3: Course. The course code and title as listed by the school, for example “ENGL 1102: Composition and Literature.” Some instructors want the section number too (“ENGL 1102-04”). Include it if asked.

Line 4: Date. Day, month, year, with the month spelled out and no commas: 30 September 2026. This is the MLA date format and it differs from the American “September 30, 2026” that APA uses; the two are easy to mix up when you switch between styles.

That is the complete heading. The temptation is to add a fifth line, such as “Essay 2” or a word count. MLA does not include one; add it only if your instructor asks, and put it where they specify.

The title

The title goes on the line directly after the date, centered, double-spaced like everything else.

Formatting rules for the title:

• Same font and size as the body text. No bold, no italics, no underlining, no quotation marks around the whole title, no larger point size.
• Title case: capitalize the first and last words and all principal words; lowercase articles, prepositions, and coordinating conjunctions in the middle (a, the, of, in, and, but).
• Italics and quotation marks appear only where they would in the text: italicize a book or film title inside your title, and put a short story, poem, or article title in quotation marks, as in the example above.
• No period at the end. A question mark or exclamation point stays if it is part of the title.
• A subtitle follows a colon: “Three Nights, One Lamp: Unreliable Narration in Halvorsen’s ‘The Lamplighter.’” Note that quotation marks nested inside a title in quotation marks become single quotes, but on the first page the title itself is not in quotation marks, so the story title keeps its double quotes.

After the title, start the text on the next line. Do not leave a blank line between the title and the first paragraph; double spacing already separates them.

If you want to see how the first page connects to the rest of an MLA paper, margins, fonts, and citation rules included, MLA Format for Research Papers: A Step-by-Step Setup Guide picks up where this page stops.

The header: last name and page number

The running header appears on every page in the top-right corner, half an inch from the top edge and flush with the right margin. It consists of your last name, one space, and the page number, in the same font as the text. Nothing else: no “Page,” no “p.,” no comma, no hyphen, no course name.

Raghunathan 1        Raghunathan 2        Raghunathan 3

Set it up in the word processor’s header area so the number updates automatically.

Microsoft Word. Insert → Page Number → Top of Page → Plain Number 3 (right-aligned). Then click to the left of the number and type your last name and a space. Confirm the font matches the body; Word sometimes uses a different default in the header. Close the header.

Google Docs. Insert → Page numbers → choose the top-right option. Click in the header, place the cursor before the number, and type your last name and a space. Set the header font to match the body.

For a paper with two or more authors, MLA guidance is to use all last names in the header if they fit; if they do not, use the first author’s last name or a shortened form your instructor accepts. Confirm with the instructor, because practice varies.

Do not confuse the MLA header with the APA page header, which carries only the page number for student papers and a running head in capitals for professional ones. APA Headings Format explains the APA version if you are working in both styles this term.

Page settings that hold the heading and header in place

The heading and header only look right when the page underneath them is set correctly.

Word’s default paragraph style adds 8 points of space after each paragraph and sets line spacing to 1.08. Both must be changed, or your heading will have uneven gaps and your page count will drift. Set spacing after to 0 and line spacing to Double before you type anything.

Variations

Group projects. MLA 9 addresses multi-author papers: list each author’s name on its own line, then the instructor, course, and date on the lines that follow. The heading grows by one line per additional author. The title still follows on the next line, centered.

Priya Raghunathan

Marcus Bell

Xiu Chen

Professor Ana Delgado

ENGL 1102: Composition and Literature

30 September 2026

                Three Readings of "The Lamplighter"

A title page is required. MLA does not use a title page and provides no official format for one. If an instructor requires one, they usually supply a layout; follow it. A common arrangement centers the title about a third of the way down the page, then centers your name, the instructor, the course, and the date in the lower third, all double-spaced. When a title page is used, the first-page heading is normally dropped, but the running header still starts at page 1 on the title page, or on the first text page if the instructor says the title page is unnumbered. Ask; there is no MLA rule to fall back on.

Section headings inside the paper. Long papers sometimes use internal headings. MLA 9 asks that they be flush left, consistently formatted, and never styled like the paper’s title. They can be numbered (1, 2, 3 or 1.1, 1.2) or unnumbered, in bold or not, as long as the same style is used for every heading at the same level. Short essays do not need them.

Papers in a language other than English. Follow the same layout; write the date and instructor title in the paper’s language if the course is conducted in that language.

What this page does not cover

The heading and header are only the frame. Inside the paper, MLA relies on author-page citations in parentheses and a Works Cited list at the end. MLA Page Format and In-Text Citations: A Practical Walkthrough handles the citations; MLA Works Cited Page handles the list.

Common mistakes

Read your first page against this list before submitting.

1. Heading centered or right-aligned. It is flush left. Only the title is centered.
2. Title in bold, underlined, or a bigger font. Plain text, same size.
3. Blank line between the heading and title, or between the title and the first paragraph. Double spacing does the separating.
4. Date in the American order with commas. MLA wants 30 September 2026.
5. Header missing from the first page. It begins on page 1.
6. Header typed as text on each page instead of set in the header area. The page number will not update and will land in the wrong place when you edit.
7. Header font different from the body. Change it in the header area.
8. First name in the header. Last name only.
9. A title page added when none was asked for. MLA default is no title page.
10. Heading repeated at the top of every page. Once, on page 1.
11. “Professor” abbreviated to “Prof.” or the instructor’s first name only.
12. Full heading single-spaced to save space. Double, like everything else.

Checklist

• Header: last name, space, page number; top right; every page including the first; automatic numbering; same font.
• Heading, flush left, double-spaced, four lines: your name, instructor, course, date (day Month year).
• Title on the next line, centered, plain, title case, no period.
• Text begins on the line after the title, indented half an inch.
• One-inch margins, 12-point legible font, double-spacing throughout, zero paragraph spacing.
• No title page unless the instructor requires one.
• Group project: one line per author, then instructor, course, date.

None of this takes longer than five minutes once the settings are saved. Set the header, fix the spacing, type the four lines and the title, and the rest of the paper starts on a page that already looks the way the reader expects.

Frequently asked questions

Does the running header go on the first page too?

Yes. In MLA the last name and page number appear on every page, starting with page 1. There is no separate first-page header and no option to suppress it. If your instructor prefers no header on the first page, that is an instructor rule, not MLA, so follow it, but the default is to show it everywhere.

How do I write my instructor’s name in the MLA heading?

Use the name and title the instructor uses in the syllabus or on the course page, for example “Professor Ana Delgado” or “Dr. Ana Delgado.” MLA does not require a title, so “Ana Delgado” alone is acceptable. Do not abbreviate to “Prof.” and do not use only a first name. When in doubt, match the syllabus exactly.

Should the date be the due date or the day I finished?

The due date, in most courses. MLA does not settle the question, but the date on a paper conventionally records when it was submitted, and instructors usually expect the due date they set. If you submit early, the due date is still fine. Write it day-month-year with no commas and the month spelled out: 30 September 2026.

Do I need a heading on every page or only the first?

Only the first. The four-line block with your name, instructor, course, and date appears once, at the top of page 1. Later pages carry only the running header with your last name and page number. Repeating the full heading on each page, which some students do out of caution, is not MLA and wastes space.