One Continuous Section Break Not Showing

Question

I have an associate who is working on a document with multiple paragraphs of text. There are many continuous section breaks in the document. All the section breaks show as expected except for one. When I open the document, the break is there as expected but when the user opens the document on their PC, the section break does not show. Paragraph markers are one and I have checked all Word settings I know to check. Any idea as to why it would show on one PC and not another?

Answer 1

If by chance a continuous section break occurs at the right end of a line very close to the right margin, the break won't appear in Print Layout view. In the screenshot below, even though nonprinting characters are displayed, the break after the word "Fusce" is invisible.

However, it will always be visible in either Draft view or Outline view:

If the break is visible on another computer, it may be because the two computers have different default printer drivers, which causes the line to end slightly farther to the left in Print Layout view on one of them.

Answer 2

Hi Cindy,

There can be multiple reasons for a document to have different appearance on different computers, of which the printer driver is but one. You have now found your section break, at least.

For a printer driver to be the same, it must be absolutely the same file, not just for the same printer. It must be on the same operating system.

Here are some references that can help you understand different appearance on different computers:

• Why has my page layout changed when I open my document on a different machine? by Suzanne Barnhill, MVP
• What happens when I send my document to someone else? Will Word mess up my formatting? by Shauna Kelly, MVP
• What must we do to ensure that one and the same document is displayed - Microsoft Community

Answer 3

Note, if section breaks are being used to change left and right margins of text, this is a poor practice in Word. Use paragraph indents instead.

• Margins and Indents in Word

Margin settings are often used for this in Wordperfect, but in Word, paragraph indents that are part of a paragraph style are better practice.

• When to use Section breaks in Microsoft Word (and when to not use Section Breaks)
• The Importance of Styles in Microsoft Word

Section breaks are useful and important. However, they add a lot of overhead to a document, each one complicating editing.

Answer 4

Hello. The section break is visible in Draft. I did notice that it moves the last word of the sentence down to a new line. Printer drivers are the same as well.

Answer 5

Thank you. I will check this and update you. In my scenario, the sentence ends to the very right and I am able to see the section break on the next line as shown below.