section break not working properly

as i mentioned in my question, it won't let me replace the next page section break with a continuous section break. 1 of 2 things happen (depending on the document) , either i choose continuous, but it doesn't change it  (it adds - not replaces) or i get a message that says "increasing left margin causes first column to become too narrow in some sections having unevenly spaced columns" -- even though I'm not changing any margin or column size.

Hi Marti,

A section break actually stores all the section-specific settings for the section that precedes it. The last hard return in a document does the same for the last section or for the whole document when the document has only one section. This last hard return cannot be deleted. You can see all the section breaks and hard returns in a document by pressing Shift+Ctrl+8 to display Word's non-printing characters.

Thus, if you have a section break near the end of a document and you delete it, the settings stored in the last hard return will define the formatting for everything in the document back to the preceding section break or for the entire document if there is no previous section break.

I suggest that you format the last section (the page after the section break that you want to delete) to have the formatting that you want in the last two sections, delete the section break between the last two sections, and then add a continuous-type section break where the deleted section break was located.

Pesach -- with regard to your response "delete the section break between the last two sections, and then add a continuous-type section break where the deleted section break was located."

as i mentioned above --

it won't let me replace (or delete) the next page section break with a continuous section break. 1 of 2 things happen (depending on the document) , either i choose continuous, but it doesn't change it  (it adds - not replaces) or i get a message that says "increasing left margin causes first column to become too narrow in some sections having unevenly spaced columns" -- even though I'm not changing any margin or column size.

Go to Format | Columns and click on the preset picture for One (even if 1 column is already selected). If possible, set "Apply to" to "Whole document." Then click OK.

This may seem totally irrelevant, but the operation works to check the "Equal column width" box in that dialog. The effect of the "Equal column width" check box is to force/allow Word to distribute columns evenly across the page (even if there is only one column). What sometimes happens (for reasons unknown) is that the width of the single column gets set to a specific amount (instead of being, as it were "floating") and doesn't adjust to changes in margins or page orientation. This can result in a single column wider than the margin or page width or some other anomaly that confuses Word.

Hi Suzanne - I was hoping you would respond - I have read many of your responses to other users & have found your advise very helpful, so thank you.

I read this answer before, and it didn't work, but it seems to have now - go figure.

However, it created another problem. The headers for the first 50 pages are perfect, but on page 51, even though "same as previous" is selected, the header is placed very close to the page edge (instead of 0.5") & the automatic page numbering isn't working. I tried to unlink it, but nothing happens when I I choose that option from the toolbar. I have made sure that at the end of each page, I have a section break (new page). Why would this happen & how can I fix this?

All of these documents I'm working with (526 of them) have weird problems that I've never seen before. They were all converted from PDF, so I don't know if that has something to do with it.

"Same as previous" only refers to the content of headers (footers). To change the dimensions of headers (footers), adjust the relevant settings ("From edge" and/or the margin settings) in the File | Page Setup dialog box for the section in question.

See also http://sbarnhill.mvps.org/WordFAQs/HeaderFooter.htm.

upon further investigation, what I found out is that the page numbering on my bottom "toolbar" (where it displays page numbers, line numbers, column, etc) is displaying the wrong page number. I have ONE section break (new page) and the end of every page. So for instance on Page 30, it displays Page 30, Section 30, 30/157. On the next page it displays  Page 30, Section 31, 31/157. There is a new page section break between the two.

I don't know if this is causing some of my problems or not, but I certainly don't think it's helping. :-)