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Next Page Section Break doesn't start the following page with a new page number

Anonymous
2022-06-12T14:27:34+00:00

I have document which comprises of approx. 35000 words and 25 sections the document has been updated monthly for the last 10 years or so and has never been a problem but now for some reason it's completely messed up. The first 7 sections are all ok in that each new page section starts the numbering again from 1, the following 3 sections continue the numbering from the previous page and then it reverts to working correctly.

I've tried from the last page of the correct section deleting the following section and then reinserting a New Page Section to no avail it just reverts to the previous position of starting on a new page but with consecutive page numbering. I've tried everything I can think of to no avail. I also started a new test file but it just does the same thing.

I have a similar file which is twice the size and is due for updating but to be honest I daren't open it until I discover what's caused the problem or at least how to resolve it, any help would be much appreciated.

I'm running desktop PC with WIn10 Pro fully up-to-date with all patches and MS365 but the Word file is currently loaded on the PC as opposed to in the cloud.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2022-06-12T15:02:21+00:00

Hello,

This forum is a user-to-user support forum. My name is Charles and I am a fellow user with decades of experience using Microsoft Word. I have written extensively on using Word and have authored help articles on the Microsoft site.

The restarting of page numbering is controlled in the Format Page Numbers dialog which can be reached using any of the drop-downs for page number.

Go to a section which currently mistakenly has the page number continuous and bring up that dialog. Then tell Word to start numbering at 1 for that section. Here is my writing on page numbering: https://www.addbalance.com/usersguide/sections2...

This link is to a page on my website. It is safe. I am providing it because I think it contains information that will help you. However, as an Independent Advisor I am required to add the following when posting here with a link to any non-Microsoft site, even my own site:

Required Notice: This is a non-Microsoft website. The page appears to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the site that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the site before you decide to download and install it.

I hope this information helps.

Please let me know if you have any more questions or require further help.

You can ask for more help by replying to this post (Reply button below).

Stay well

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  1. Anonymous
    2022-06-12T16:04:27+00:00

    Charles has told you how to reset the page numbers again.

    .

    Just because you've used the file for 10 years does not prevent it from corrupting at any time.

    .

    If it is an issue of corruption, you will never learn what caused it. It just "is". Then you have to deal with it.

    .

    So, if Charles suggestion does not work you may want to bite the bullet and treat this as a file corruptions issue now, before it gets worse.

    .

    SAVE AS the file to TXT format.

    Close and Open the TXT format file

    SAVE AS the TXT format file back to DOCX

    then reapply all of your formatting and re-insert your pictures.

    .

    Yes, it is time consuming.

    Yes, it sucks.

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  2. Anonymous
    2022-06-13T18:38:31+00:00

    You are welcome.

    The thing is, if you already have multiple sections and the current section is set to restart page numbering at 1 any new section started from such a section will do the same thing, i.e. restart at page 1. (This includes new sections automatically formed when you change columns, margins, or orientation.)

    Keep in mind that a single page can have multiple sections.

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  3. Anonymous
    2022-06-13T15:21:44+00:00

    Hi and thanks for your input as you say Charles's response answered my query and I was grateful for the input from both of you.

    1easygeezer

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  4. Anonymous
    2022-06-13T15:16:11+00:00

    Hi Charles

    I just wanted to thank you for your assistance, I completely overlooked the obvious probably due to the fact that through all the different versions of Word I've used through the years the New Page Section Break has always produced the next section starting at 1 I never questioned it just accepted and worked with it so when it suddenly changed I was confused and annoyed to say the least. Your reply brought the clarity I needed so thank you very much.

    1easygeezer

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