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My document has developed a completely hidden section break that I cannot see to remove and cannot be linked to prior section

Anonymous
2023-12-09T21:09:06+00:00

My Windows 11 computer crashed or decided to restart on its own and when it came back it returned the autosaved version of my draft book manuscript.

It seemed OK so I kept working on it. I had failed to notice that the page numbers now restarted in the middle of the document. Fixing this by the usual methods that I know about---deleting the new section break or linking the new section to the prior section--has proved impossible.

If I click on the footer section Word now reports that a random section break has been added, but I cannot see it to remove it, either by viewing the formatting or by viewing the document in draft mode. It is completely invisible. See the screenshot below

So I tried to to simply link this unwanted section 3 to section 2 (the main text of the book) but this failed.

If this is not fixable, is there a way to compare an older version to this newer version so I can add the new text to the old version? Or should I cut and paste the new language into the older properly page numbered version?

Windows 11 current Word from Microsoft Office Home

Thanks!

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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  1. Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 322.9K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2023-12-11T04:31:46+00:00

    You would not normally insert a Continuous Section Break (or any Section Break) in the middle of a paragraph and it is because that is where it was inserted that it can be difficult to see.

    You can of course use the Find facility to search for ^b to locate a Section Break. I am not sure if anyone mentioned that earlier.

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  2. Suzanne S Barnhill 277.3K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2023-12-10T02:43:32+00:00

    Section breaks are easier to see in Draft view. Try switching to that view.

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-12-10T20:08:38+00:00

    Option 1 does not work. When I get to the page Setup dialogue box>Layout , there is no option to Remove Section Breaks.

    Option 2 does not work as described, or ultimately at all. When I select the View option in the main ribbon, there is no option to View Header/Footer

    If I manually select header/footer by double clicking on it I can of course see the Link to Previous option. As previously indicated, toggling this on or off provides no relief to the problem.

    So I did solve the problem. If you look at the original screen shot I provided at the start of this discussion, at the very end of the second to last paragraph on the first page, you can see there is a tiny, tiny section break. I missed this the first time through because it is so incredibly tiny and does not say "Section Break". Removing this solved the problem.

    I reintroduced a section break at that point and I get the same problem, exactly as described. In fact, if the break is inserted at the end of a full width line, it is completely invisible in Show Formatting mode, there is no indication of its existence, and none of the aforementioned methods to find and remove it work. Here the section break is at the very top of the right hand page before the sord "Fusion" and it is invisible in the view formatting view.

    So this appears to be a new bug in the software and a very troubling one at that. If anyone can replicate it, it should be reported for a bug fix, however that works. Maybe it is just my copy of the software that is defective. I should reload the software, not sure how to do that but I am sure I can find something online.

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-12-09T21:58:09+00:00

    Hello,

    My name is EngineTyme, an Independent Advisor and a Microsoft user like you and I would be glad to help you.

    Kindly confirm if you have tried using the page setup dialog box:

    Click the "Page Setup" button in the "Page Layout" tab. In the "Page Setup" dialog box, switch to the "Layout" tab. Under the "Section Breaks" section, click the "Remove Section Break" button. Click "OK" to close the dialog box.

    Kindly refer to this article for more details: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/delete-a-section-break-1e12f200-7215-4688-a55a-5130f383dc5f

    Also, you could try to restart the page numbering:

    Go to a header or footer (select View > Header and Footer in the main menu bar). Once you do that, you’ll see a new purple tab named Header and footer appear in the Ribbon. Click there and you’ll see a Link to previous option. Take the checkmark off. Once you do that, the header (or the footer, depending on where you had your cursor) will become independent. To change the looks of a header or footer, or to set a different page number, use a Section break (Next Page). The header or footer that you see (and the effect of the Link to previous option) apply to the section where your cursor is.

    Here is the link to the article for more details: https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/office/start-page-numbering-later-in-your-document-c73e3d55-d722-4bd0-886e-0b0bd0eb3f02

    Please let me know if you have any questions or concern.

    Best regards, EngineTyme.

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