Section and page breaks - Word for Mac 2008

When you fill a page with text or graphics, Word inserts an automatic page break and starts a new page. To force a page break at a specific location, you can insert a manual page break. In the example below:

  • An automatic page break is indicated by a blue line.
  • A manual page break is a blue line labeled “Page Break”.
Image showing what a page break looks like in Word

Page breaks

In cases where you need to have text begin on a new page, such as the beginning of a new chapter, insert a manual page break at the point where you want the new page to begin. (Don’t press the Enter key repeatedly until a new page begins.)

To insert a manual page break, follow these steps:

  1. Click where you want to insert the page break.
  2. On the Insert menu, point to Break, then click Page Break.

Section breaks

Word uses section breaks to divide a document into sections. Within sections, it is possible to vary the layout of the document. For example, one section can have page numbering in Roman numerals, while another section can use Arabic numbers.

The template contains two section breaks – just before the Table of Contents, and at the beginning of Chapter 1.

Page properties – including margins, page numbers, number of columns, horizontal or vertical format, etc. – are applied within a section of the document. If you need to modify these properties in a portion of your document, you will need to insert section breaks at the beginning and end of that portion.

To insert a section break:

  1. Click where you want to insert the section break.
  2. On the Insert menu, select Break, then click Section Break (Next Page). This will insert the section break, and text following the section break will start on a new page.
  3. If you want the text to continue on the same page, click Section Break (Continuous).