invisible section breaks

Question

I am in the midst of creating a rather lengthy document that has "chapters".  I am basically familiar with creating new section breaks.  I have been working with someone who is editing this document with me.  This individual is using a MAC to do her editing.  When I get the "chapters" back the formatting is all corrupted.  I need to figure out how to fix the section breaks.  I have a document where the section is numbered Section 4 on one page and Section 7 on the next page.  I have deleted all page breaks, and paragraph marks.  Still shows the same section breaks.  I have even eliminated all formatting and still get the same Section numbers.

I am hoping that someone can help me find a solution to this problem.  It is so irritating.  I have spent literally days cleaning up the original document.  I am sure that this will continue to be a problem and that is ok if I know how to fix it or know how to prevent it from repeatedly occurring.

HELP!!!!

Karen

Answer 1

Are there changes within a chapter that might require a section break? Such as change in the number of columns, margins, etc. It may be that your editor is changing margins instead of paragraph indents.

You can search for section breaks by searching for ^b, and you may find them easier to spot in Draft view.

Answer 2

In print preview search using advanced Find for ^b. Advanced Find is the legacy find from previous versions - not part of the Navigation Pane.

As Suzanne pointed out, changing columns or margins will often result in the insertion of continuous (and often confusing) sections breaks.

Sections / Headers and Footers in Microsoft Word 2007-2013

Answer 3

The only place that I get a section break in "draft" view when using ^b is at the end of the "chapter" which is appropriate.  I am not seeing any other section breaks in this "chapter".   Are there any other suggestions?