Word 2013 - Page Layout does not match Print Preview

I have sent a copy of the file to Doug.

In regards to Suzanne's question, I have no Odd Page section breaks. I have only Continuous and Next Page section breaks.

Section 1 is page 1 to the upper part of page 3.

On page 3, there is a continuous section break, so that I can include a 4-column area, which is section 2. This area has a section break at the end of it, which I cannot read because Word does not display the full text of the section break within the 4th column. But I am pretty sure that it too is a continuous section break.

So section 3 begins on page 3 and continues on pages 4 and following, until a Next Page section break separates the front matter from the first chapter.

Since page 4 is itself a blank page, Print Preview is either inserting the additional blank page just before or just after it, so that there are two blank pages in Print Preview where there is only one in Print Layout view.

Blank pages inserted by Word (for whatever reason) will not be viewable except in Print Preview but will be counted in the page numbering. If you restart numbering at 1 in a given section and Word thinks you plan to duplex the document (because you have enabled "Mirror margins" or "Different Odd and Even" headers and footers), a blank even page will be inserted if the previous section ends on an odd page.

You are onto something here, but my experiments in trying to fix things are not successful.

Section 2 does end on an odd page, page 3. And sure enough when I put the cursor on page 4, the page numbering shows it as 5 and not 4 in the Print Layout view.

But what do I do to fix it?

I tried adding enough entries to the 4-column table to push the Continuous section break onto the next page. And that does eliminate the extra blank page. But it screws up the page numbering of Section 3 by numbering the blank page as "i" when what I really want is a completely blank page.

Either I can get the blank pages to show the same in Print Preview and Print Layout view OR (exclusive OR) I can get the page numbers to show correctly, but I cannot get it to do both.

There is another thought here. I am wanting all my numbering to start on the odd pages. I don't know if there is some default that wants to start page numbering on the even pages, but there seems to be.

I copied the file and completely eliminated the first two sections, so that the third section (TOC and Foreword) were the first section of the new document. The page numbering is now right. But the Print Preview shows the first page of the new section as a right-hand page when the Print Layout view shows it as a left-hand page (which is what I want).

This is maddening. I have spent hours experimenting with different magic permutations of section breaks and page numbering schemes ... all for naught.

We really need WYSIWYG, which I thought had been solved long ago but clearly has not. I don't know what Microsoft Word's developers are telling themselves to justify the way it is now, but they are deluding themselves. If you can see it on the Print Layout view, then you should be able to print it as you see it.

You've already got a completely blank page! When your document page numbering skips from 3 to 5 (and the formatted page numbers presumably skip from iii to 1), you know there is a blank page. You cannot get these blank pages to show in Print Layout view; they are displayed only in Print Preview and then only when you display two or more pages.

If you prefer to have a blank page that you can see in Print Layout view, then you can use the field construction explained at http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/TblsFldsFms/InsEvnPgEndChap.htm,  but that is a lot of work and really intended for users who want a "blank" page on which they can put content such as "This page intentionally left blank."

You've already got a completely blank page! When your document page numbering skips from 3 to 5 (and the formatted page numbers presumably skip from iii to 1), you know there is a blank page. You cannot get these blank pages to show in Print Layout view; they are displayed only in Print Preview and then only when you display two or more pages.

If you prefer to have a blank page that you can see in Print Layout view, then you can use the field construction explained at http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/TblsFldsFms/InsEvnPgEndChap.htm,  but that is a lot of work and really intended for users who want a "blank" page on which they can put content such as "This page intentionally left blank."

I would be very happy not to have the blank page in Print Layout view, IF I really could get Print Preview to show it the way I want. Eliminating the page break and thus the blank page in Print Layout view does NOT solve the problem. The resulting Print Preview now shows no blank page at all. I can get zero or I can get two, but I cannot get one blank page.

If I change the Continuous section break at the end of the 4-column table to a Next Page section break, then it automatically changes the Continuous section break at the start of the 4-column table to a Next Page section break ... which is not what I want, since the table has to be on page 3 after the text that is still in section 1.

Going back to the original configuration and replacing the Page break after the end of Section 2's Continuous section break with a Next Page section break does not work either. Now, not only am I back to two blank pages, but one of them has a page number on it.

Telling me what the symptoms are confirms that you are onto the right problem, But I have no clue what you think the answer is, and everything that I try to implement some interpretation of your notes does not solve the problem. Please be very specific about what configuration of section breaks that I should be using to achieve what you think I should be able to achieve.

A blank page with a page number is not a "blank" page: it has some content; see http://WordFAQs.mvps.org/BlankPage.htm. If the blank page occurs following a table, then the issue is probably the default empty paragraph following the table. Since it is not at the end of the document (just the end of a section), this empty paragraph can be deleted.

I can't offer much more in the way of suggestions without seeing the document. You can send it to ssbarnhill at gmail dot com, along with a description of what you want it to do.

I received an abridged copy of the document from wordworksnot and have given him some information to help him sort it out.

Tips that I have provided were:

1. use the appropriate Odd a, nd Even Page Section Break where it is required to have text start on either an odd or even (physical) page of the document. 
2. Avoid the use of Hard Page Breaks (of which there were a number in the document that I received and they immediately followed Next Page Section Breaks, which was the reason for the Print Preview showing an extra blank page.}
3. Make use of Paragraph Formatting (Page Break before) rather than multiple empty paragraphs before the paragraph that is required to start on a new page.
4. How to link\unlink headers and footers to enable one to be changed independently of another.