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Unable to remove extraneous [empty!] white space in Word document

Anonymous
2021-02-08T16:16:56+00:00

I am suffering with a problem similarly reported by others: My Word document contains an empty blank area (empty AFAIK, that is) that I cannot remove:

There is a little gray dingus that shows, but I am unable to select it or modify it.  If I zoom in on it, it turns into multiple little gray squarish pixellated things.  Still unable to select or remove.

If I select both the ALBERT and LUCY paragraphs, and click Paragraph->Pagination I can mess around with the various options.  If Widow/Orphan control is checked and I turn it off, then the blank area my be removed, but recurs elsewhere.

I am using a Style that contains a paragraph formatting definition that includes pagination control.  If I change the style definition, will that apply to all paragraphs that were created using that style?  Or only new/additional ones?

I do sense that the problem is tied up with the style/paragraph/pagination settings, but I'd like to know how to make a change that would apply universally to the entire document.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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  1. Stefan Blom 339.2K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2021-02-08T18:20:38+00:00

    I think I get hung up on "Spacing After" - when does that occur?  If I'm entering a one-paragraph script line, when I hit Enter at the end of the paragraph, will Word automatically create a new paragraph in the current style and then space?  Or space before? How would I tell Word that I want to end the currently numbered script line (aka paragraph) and start a second paragraph that's part of the current, numbered, script line?

    Spacing After, as well as Spacing Before, is a property of text paragraphs (and of paragraph styles). It adds spacing as you press Enter. In the user interface, you can add it via the Modify Style dialog box.

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  2. Suzanne S Barnhill 277.2K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2021-02-08T17:44:07+00:00

    Have a look at http://wordfaqs.ssbarnhill.com/UnaccountablyIndented.htm to see if it might suggest a line of attack.

    If you redefine a style, the change will be propagated to all paragraphs in that style. You can make changes to individual paragraphs as needed without changing the style provided the style is not set to update automatically.

    Off-topic, but I'm curious about your line breaks. Instead of using a line break, wouldn't it make more sense just to add some Spacing After to the dialog style?

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  3. Suzanne S Barnhill 277.2K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2021-02-08T19:54:10+00:00

    Shift+Enter inserts a line break, not a paragraph break; in your screen shot, it is shown by the bent arrow. When you want to start a new line without Spacing After, you can use a line break; in numbered paragraphs, this can be used to create the appearance of a new paragraph without a paragraph number. A better way, however, is to use a Continue style (such as List Continue following List Number/List Bullet) to have the same indent but no number or bullet.

    If you are using a variety of style and want to omit spacing between paragraphs of the same style, you can do that by checking the appropriate box in the Paragraph dialog when modifying the style.

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  4. Stefan Blom 339.2K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2021-02-08T18:23:52+00:00

    In VBA, you can make use of the SpaceBefore and/or SpaceAfter properties. For example, the following simple code sets the Spacing Before to 12 points for the first paragraph in the selection:

    Selection.Paragraphs(1).SpaceBefore = 12

    Of course, you can view or change the settings for any paragraph style you are using:

    ActiveDocument.Styles(wdStyleBodyText).ParagraphFormat.SpaceAfter = 12

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  5. Anonymous
    2021-02-08T18:06:07+00:00

    To answer your question: Yes!  That's been on my to-do list for awhile.  I have some macros defined that I use in this document, among which was one to insert a blank, unnumbered line (preparatory to the next [numbered] script line).  I have just never got around to improve the process of getting that result..

    I think I get hung up on "Spacing After" - when does that occur?  If I'm entering a one-paragraph script line, when I hit Enter at the end of the paragraph, will Word automatically create a new paragraph in the current style and then space?  Or space before? How would I tell Word that I want to end the currently numbered script line (aka paragraph) and start a second paragraph that's part of the current, numbered, script line?

    So my brain turns to jelly and I just don't do anything...

    1 person found this answer helpful.
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