Appearance of page breaks and section breaks?

I've been curious about this for a while...

Does anyone know why page breaks and section breaks can have different appearances (in the page layout view with hidden characters showing)? For example, sometimes the dotted lines extend across the width of the page, sometimes not. Sometime there is a paragraph mark at the end of the break, sometimes not.

The appearance is controlled by a compatibility option called "Split apart page break and paragraph  mark" (at File tab | Options | Advanced, scroll down to and expand the "Layout options").

Stefan Blom
MS 365 Word MVP since 2005
Volunteer Moderator
MS 365, Win 11 Pro
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Page breaks also display differently in .doc files than in .docx. In .doc files, a manual page break stretches across the page; in .docx files, it is a short line.
Microsoft MVP (Word) since 1999
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://ssbarnhill.com
http://wordfaqs.ssbarnhill.com
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I believe the different display is connected to the compatibility option as well. I just tested this in Word 2013 (after using a macro to access the "Layout options" in the Options dialog box).

Stefan Blom
MS 365 Word MVP since 2005
Volunteer Moderator
MS 365, Win 11 Pro
~~~
Note that I do not work for Microsoft
https://mvp.microsoft.com/
~~~
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I believe you're right, since the default in .doc files is to split apart the breaks. 
Microsoft MVP (Word) since 1999
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://ssbarnhill.com
http://wordfaqs.ssbarnhill.com
Screen shots captured with TechSmith's Snagit

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Last updated August 12, 2024 Views 779 Applies to: