Problems with section breaks and creating different headers.

Question

I created a document in Word 2010 and used section breaks so I could have different headers in different sections of the document.  When I add a header to, for example, section 1, the same information is in all other sections.  Similarly, if a change is made in a later section, the headers from previous sections revert the same header.  I can't figure out what I am doing wrong (after watching tutorials and reviewing posts, I am doing exactly what is instructed).

Answer 1

When you insert a section break, each* header and footer of the section after the break is automatically linked to the corresponding one of the section before the break. To change that, you have to open the header (or footer) area by double-clicking in it -- so the Header & Footer Tools tab appears on the ribbon -- and click the Link to Previous button to turn it off. Only then will the headers/footers of the sections be independent.

* Every section can show up to three independent headers and three independent footers -- the main, first-page, and even-page headers/footers. The first-page header/footer show up when you check the box for Different First Page in the Header & Footer Tools ribbon. The even-page header/footer show up when you check Different Odd & Even Pages. When one or both of those options are turned on, the main header/footer becomes either the "second and following pages" header or the odd-page header.

Answer 2

I am having the same problem with three sections, all of which are not linked. When I change the text of the header in section 3, the text in sections 1 and 2 change with it. I even un-linked the footers to see if that was somehow related, but no luck.

I've noticed that this multiple headers technique, created by multiple sections with unlinked headers, sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. Is there a reason for this?

Thanks.

Answer 3

I apologize for not getting back to Chris in September.

For two possible solutions, see the (long) thread at http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_2007-word/section-headers-following-the-instructions-doesnt/6cb5aa32-f610-4383-9b80-8f3e32e2a5be.

First, use the macro in Stefan Blom's first post on 6 October 2010 (see http://www.gmayor.com/installing_macro.htm if needed).

Second, if the headers you inserted were from the Header gallery of built-in designs, try using Angela_911's suggestion from 8 January 2012 about right-clicking and choosing Remove Content Control.

Answer 4

I hope that I am not misinterpreting the function.  My intent is to have 9 sections, each of which has a header that looks the same but has different veribiage. This is what I did; I double clicked on each of the 9 headers in my document (same as the number of sections) and made sure the Link to Previous button was turned off.  I'm not using the Different First Page or Odd/Even function. I added a header to each section using Next function then Header (to select a design option).  When I added/changed the verbiage on any of the 9 headers, the other 8 accepted the change as well. For example, in section 9 I typed "Client Info" in the header space and when I save and subsequently scroll through the document, each of the other 8 headers says "Client Info".  When I make a change to section 3, for example, sections 1-2, 4-9 have the same words in the header as section 3.  Again, maybe I'm not interpreting the function properly.

Answer 5

Yes, there is definitely a reason:  Bad coding... glitchy, not-well-thought-out code :(  I can't wait to move on to 2016 and forget 2010 and all the nonsense between 2005 and 2013 :S