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how do I reduce the size of a header or footer in Office 365

Anonymous
2021-06-24T01:43:52+00:00

The Header and footer on my documents take up too much vertical space.  Is it possible to reduce the vertical size of the header and footer?  Adjusting the "From Top" and "From Bottom" only changes the position of the text w/o actually reducing the amount of space being taken by the header/footer.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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  1. Anonymous
    2021-06-24T21:52:33+00:00

    In header/footer edit mode, hover your mouse pointer over the "bottom/Top margin of the Header / Footer until it turns into the 2 headed arrow. Then you can click and drag the margin up/down.

    Finding the trigger point for the pointer to turn into the 2 headed arrow can be tricky.

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  1. Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 322.9K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2021-06-24T06:00:35+00:00

    Reduce the top and bottom margins.

    Note however that if the height of the content of the header\footer, plus the distance from the edge of the page exceeds the dimension of the margins, the margins will be increased to accommodate the content of the header\footer

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  2. Charles Kenyon 166.5K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2021-06-24T20:57:10+00:00

    J Biddle's response does not address your concerns, even though a sincere try. Both Doug Robbins and Stefan Blom are addressing your concerns of reducing how much space is allocated to the header and footer.

    Here is my Header/Footer Settings Recap. You may not need all that information, though.

    A key idea is that each Word document reserves room for a header and a footer and lets you position that space from the top and bottom of the page. If that reserved room is not used, it still is not available in the body of the document. It can be a little or a lot of space.

    However, if you place material in the header or footer that exceeds that reserved space, it will use that additional space, taking it away from the room available in the body.

    It is also possible to place images behind text (watermarks) that do not take away from the space available in the body. Likewise, it is possible to place shapes or frames in a header or footer that act to move the left and right margin.

    The space after paragraph setting of the Heading Style and the space before paragraph setting of the Footer Style can also change how much space is available in the body of the document.

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  3. Stefan Blom 338.6K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2021-06-24T09:38:36+00:00

    To add to what Doug has said, you can read more about header and footer margins in the article at http://wordfaqs.ssbarnhill.com/HeaderFooterRibbon.htm.

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  4. Anonymous
    2021-06-24T06:06:59+00:00

    Hi BayleGoodman:

    Based on your description, we understand that you want to resize the header or footer in Word.

    You can adjust the position by setting the distance between the header and footer:

    When you reposition the header or footer, the borders will move with it, and the contents of the page move with it:

    As you mentioed, "From Top" and "From Bottom" only changes the position of the text w/o actually reducing the amount of space being taken by the header/footer. Could you please share the screenshots of your problems with us so that we can better understand your situation. Also, please share the screenshot of your Word version information with us.

    Looking forward to your reply.

    Tin

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