Deleting a Continuous Section Break (Word 2000)

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Documents our office receives from outside sources often have Continuous Section Breaks here and there for no apparent reason. When I try to delete one, the Next Page Section Break that precedes it gets converted to a Continuous Section Break. How can I delete these Continuous Breaks without messing up that preceding Next Page Section Break?

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Russ,

Try the following:

For each Continuous Section Break that you want to delete: make sure the insertion point is in some location immediately after that continuous section break.
Then go to File > Page Setup > Layout Tab.
Change the ‘Section start’ setting (in the dropdown list) from ‘Continuous’ to ‘New Page’ – then click OK.
The continuous section break will change into a next page section break, and you can now delete it without affecting the section break before it.

Gary

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Hi Gary:
I think that you can do it in one fell swoop in that dialog box by changing the “Applies to” to whole document. Of course, that assumes that you want to get rid of all the continuous breaks. You could also use the dialog box for one section & then move the cursor to the other sections & press F4.

P.S. Good to hear from you.

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Hi Gary:
I think that you can do it in one fell swoop in that dialog box by changing the “Applies to” to whole document. Of course, that assumes that you want to get rid of all the continuous breaks. You could also use the dialog box for one section & then move the cursor to the other sections & press F4.

P.S. Good to hear from you.

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Gary and Phil,

Thanks for the good information. Here’s what I found based on your suggestions:

Gary, Word 2000 will not let you change the single Continuous Section Break to a Next Page Section Break. However, if you insert a Next Page SB immediately after the Continuous SB, then select the two, it will let you change them both to Next Page SBs. You can then delete them both without affecting that preceding Next Page SB I was having trouble with. Interestingly, I was able to change a single Next Page SB to Continuous using your method, but not vice-versa. But at least on one attempt, when I did that (changed the Next Page to Continuous), Word changed the following Continuous SB to a Next Page. Very confusing.

Phil, when I changed “Applies to” to “Whole document” like you said, it worked without adding a second section break.

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Hi Russ:
Just for your information, you can change a single continuous section break to a new page section break. IF you place your cursor in the section preceding the continuous section break, then go to File/Page Setup…/Layout tab & change it, it will change, even if the “Applies to” box is set for “this section”.

Here’s why. A section break holds formatting for the section preceding the break, BUT the type of break (continuous, odd, even, new page) is listed for the FOLLOWING section. If your cursor is in section one & you go to change the type of section, nothing on the screen will change, regardless whether it’s continuous or New page. That’s because the type of section for section one is NOT listed. Yeah, it’s very confusing.

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Hi, Phil. Thanks for taking so much time with this.

I tried what you just said and couldn’t get it to work. I put my cursor in the section ahead of the Continuous SB and went to File > Page Setup > Layout tab. It already said “New page” in the Section Start window, so I clicked OK, but the Continuous SB did not change. Did I do it right?

And I’m sorry but I don’t understand what you’re saying in the second paragraph of your latest reply.

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Hi Russ:
You put the cursor in the section AFTER the section break.

What I said in my previous post, last paragraph, was that a section break contains formatting (like margins, columns…page stuff…as well as paragraph formatting). It affects the section before it. However, the type of break listed (new page, continuous) is listed for the section following the section break.

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Phil, I think I understand what you’re saying, but whether I put my cursor before or after the Continuous SB, it doesn’t change when I tell it New Page under Section Start.

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Could you attach the document? You can delete most of the text & leave just enough to divide the sections & keep the last paragraph mark. I’ll take a look at it (maybe not until tomorrow).

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Sure. Here’s a cut-down attachment.

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Well, I’ll be. It’s a DISPLAY problem. Try this:

1. Scroll to the continuous section break & place the cursor in the paragraph after it.
2. Type Alt,F,U (File/Page Setup)/Layout tab. The section start will say “continuous” & the “Applies to” says this section.
3. Change the section type to New page & click OK. The dialog box closes and nothing appears to change. The section break still says “continuous”.
4. Scroll the section break out of view & then back into view. Now it says “New Page”.

I tried this with the last continuous section break on the page & didn’t have the problem. Then I deleted the first continous section break & replace it with another. This time it worked correctly. I think there was some corruption in the first continuous section break.

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That sounds very familiar. I think we’ve bumped our heads against that one before.

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That sounds very familiar. I think we’ve bumped our heads against that one before.

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Phil, forgive me for this late response. The three-day weekend came, and then when I got back, we’ve been buried ever since. I’ll take a look as soon as I get a chance to look up from my desk. Thanks for your usual great help.

Russ

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Phil, forgive me for this late response. The three-day weekend came, and then when I got back, we’ve been buried ever since. I’ll take a look as soon as I get a chance to look up from my desk. Thanks for your usual great help.

Russ

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I finally tried it. Works just like you said. Thanks again. –Russ

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I finally tried it. Works just like you said. Thanks again. –Russ

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Well, I’ll be. It’s a DISPLAY problem. Try this:

1. Scroll to the continuous section break & place the cursor in the paragraph after it.
2. Type Alt,F,U (File/Page Setup)/Layout tab. The section start will say “continuous” & the “Applies to” says this section.
3. Change the section type to New page & click OK. The dialog box closes and nothing appears to change. The section break still says “continuous”.
4. Scroll the section break out of view & then back into view. Now it says “New Page”.

I tried this with the last continuous section break on the page & didn’t have the problem. Then I deleted the first continous section break & replace it with another. This time it worked correctly. I think there was some corruption in the first continuous section break.

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Sure. Here’s a cut-down attachment.

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Could you attach the document? You can delete most of the text & leave just enough to divide the sections & keep the last paragraph mark. I’ll take a look at it (maybe not until tomorrow).

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Phil, I think I understand what you’re saying, but whether I put my cursor before or after the Continuous SB, it doesn’t change when I tell it New Page under Section Start.

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Hi Russ:
You put the cursor in the section AFTER the section break.

What I said in my previous post, last paragraph, was that a section break contains formatting (like margins, columns…page stuff…as well as paragraph formatting). It affects the section before it. However, the type of break listed (new page, continuous) is listed for the section following the section break.

Reply | Quote

Hi, Phil. Thanks for taking so much time with this.

I tried what you just said and couldn’t get it to work. I put my cursor in the section ahead of the Continuous SB and went to File > Page Setup > Layout tab. It already said “New page” in the Section Start window, so I clicked OK, but the Continuous SB did not change. Did I do it right?

And I’m sorry but I don’t understand what you’re saying in the second paragraph of your latest reply.

Reply | Quote

Hi Russ:
Just for your information, you can change a single continuous section break to a new page section break. IF you place your cursor in the section preceding the continuous section break, then go to File/Page Setup…/Layout tab & change it, it will change, even if the “Applies to” box is set for “this section”.

Here’s why. A section break holds formatting for the section preceding the break, BUT the type of break (continuous, odd, even, new page) is listed for the FOLLOWING section. If your cursor is in section one & you go to change the type of section, nothing on the screen will change, regardless whether it’s continuous or New page. That’s because the type of section for section one is NOT listed. Yeah, it’s very confusing.

Reply | Quote

Gary and Phil,

Thanks for the good information. Here’s what I found based on your suggestions:

Gary, Word 2000 will not let you change the single Continuous Section Break to a Next Page Section Break. However, if you insert a Next Page SB immediately after the Continuous SB, then select the two, it will let you change them both to Next Page SBs. You can then delete them both without affecting that preceding Next Page SB I was having trouble with. Interestingly, I was able to change a single Next Page SB to Continuous using your method, but not vice-versa. But at least on one attempt, when I did that (changed the Next Page to Continuous), Word changed the following Continuous SB to a Next Page. Very confusing.

Phil, when I changed “Applies to” to “Whole document” like you said, it worked without adding a second section break.

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Russ,

Try the following:

For each Continuous Section Break that you want to delete: make sure the insertion point is in some location immediately after that continuous section break.
Then go to File > Page Setup > Layout Tab.
Change the ‘Section start’ setting (in the dropdown list) from ‘Continuous’ to ‘New Page’ – then click OK.
The continuous section break will change into a next page section break, and you can now delete it without affecting the section break before it.

Gary

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More on inserted Breaks in Word…. I’m having trouble with these boogers…. If I have a 10 page document and I want the last page to have a different footer than the first 9 pages… I inserted a Continous Secton break… opened the footer, inserted my text and the text appeared on ALL ten pages….
What I discovered was, if I insert a section break in the document and move the insertion point “south” of the section break, the status bar will say I’m in Section 2. However, if I open the footer, NOW the status bar says I’m in section 1. Can anyone explain this and offer a solution?
Charq in Portland, OR

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If you want a different footer on page 10, you must put the section break on page 9. The header and footer on a page belong to the section that is at the top of the pages. So if you insert a section break on page 10, the header and footer will still belong to section 1.

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If you want a different footer on page 10, you must put the section break on page 9. The header and footer on a page belong to the section that is at the top of the pages. So if you insert a section break on page 10, the header and footer will still belong to section 1.

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The best way to have a different footer on the LAST page of your document is to have a single section for the whole document and use an IF field with syntax like

{ IF {PAGE }={ NUMPAGES } “last page footer” “standard footer” }

Insert the { } field delimiters using Control-F9.
You can put any text you like in between the quotes, including other fields, tables etc.

StuartR

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The best way to have a different footer on the LAST page of your document is to have a single section for the whole document and use an IF field with syntax like

{ IF {PAGE }={ NUMPAGES } “last page footer” “standard footer” }

Insert the { } field delimiters using Control-F9.
You can put any text you like in between the quotes, including other fields, tables etc.

StuartR

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I never use Continuous section breaks, so this might not be the same…. When you use a Next Page section break, you have to unlink the new section’s footer from the previous section before editing, or you end up editing the footer for the first section (i.e., they are the same thing). The relevant toolbar button will appear to be depressed, and its “screen tip” says “Same as Previous.” After you unclick it (if you see what I mean), the notation Same as Previous will disappear from above the dotted outline for the footer.

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I never use Continuous section breaks, so this might not be the same…. When you use a Next Page section break, you have to unlink the new section’s footer from the previous section before editing, or you end up editing the footer for the first section (i.e., they are the same thing). The relevant toolbar button will appear to be depressed, and its “screen tip” says “Same as Previous.” After you unclick it (if you see what I mean), the notation Same as Previous will disappear from above the dotted outline for the footer.

Reply | Quote

More on inserted Breaks in Word…. I’m having trouble with these boogers…. If I have a 10 page document and I want the last page to have a different footer than the first 9 pages… I inserted a Continous Secton break… opened the footer, inserted my text and the text appeared on ALL ten pages….
What I discovered was, if I insert a section break in the document and move the insertion point “south” of the section break, the status bar will say I’m in Section 2. However, if I open the footer, NOW the status bar says I’m in section 1. Can anyone explain this and offer a solution?
Charq in Portland, OR

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