Headers and footers in LaTeX
The fancyhdr package gives full control over page headers and footers.
Quick answer
latex
\usepackage{fancyhdr}
\pagestyle{fancy}
\fancyhf{} % clear defaults
\fancyhead[L]{My Thesis}
\fancyhead[R]{\leftmark}
\fancyfoot[C]{\thepage}Position keys
Use L, C, R for left/center/right, combined with H (header) or F (footer). For two-sided documents, use O (odd) and E (even).
latex
\fancyhead[L]{left header}
\fancyhead[C]{center header}
\fancyhead[R]{right header}
\fancyfoot[L]{left footer}
\fancyfoot[C]{center footer}
\fancyfoot[R]{right footer}
% Two-sided (thesis):
\fancyhead[LE]{\leftmark} % even pages, left
\fancyhead[RO]{\rightmark} % odd pages, rightAutomatic section/chapter names
latex
\leftmark % current chapter (book) or section (article)
\rightmark % current section (book) or subsection (article)
\fancyhead[R]{\nouppercase{\leftmark}}Remove the horizontal rule
latex
% Remove header rule:
\renewcommand{\headrulewidth}{0pt}
% Remove footer rule:
\renewcommand{\footrulewidth}{0pt}
% Custom thickness:
\renewcommand{\headrulewidth}{0.4pt}Plain style on chapter pages
LaTeX automatically switches to plain style on chapter-opening pages. Override it:
latex
\fancypagestyle{plain}{
\fancyhf{}
\fancyfoot[C]{\thepage}
\renewcommand{\headrulewidth}{0pt}
}Title page without header
latex
\begin{document}
\thispagestyle{empty} % no header/footer on title page
\maketitle
\newpage
\pagestyle{fancy} % start fancy from page 2
\end{document}