Alternate side page numbers in Apple Pages for Mac

Pages v8.2 has Facing Pages. Click the Document name in the Toolbar, and this will open the Documents panel. Select Facing Pages, and by default, the page numbers will always be on the right-side of the page.

If you want alternating page number locations, select the Section tab, and choose Left and right pages are different. You will notice that the Facing Pages layout will not show page numbers on even pages, as it is waiting for you to insert the page number in the preferred header/footer location for even pages.

Pages will not automatically restore to single-page layout from facing pages, so you need to click on the Zoom tool in the toolbar and select One Page after unchecking Facing Pages in the Document panel. You will also have to click on the right edge of the Pages window and drag to the left to collapse considerable wasted space on either side of the document view.

I suggest that you get a copy of the free, living e-book Pages User Guide for Mac, which presently covers through Pages v8.2.1. This will install within Apple Books.

Apple never designed Pages to be a Word clone, and the two applications are miles apart in functional features which may seriously frustrate you after using MS Word since the mid-1990s with Word 6.