Cursor skipping to bottom of document after page break (macOS)

Question

Hiya,

When I add a page break (using cmd-enter) in word for macOS, the behavior seems odd and problematic. When I have my cursor on page 1 and press down to move to the first page after the page break, my cursor moves to the very bottom of the document (highlighting the final paragraph end when paragraph marks are made visual using cmd-8).

I can reproduce this in a new document. I:

type a character

press cmd-enter to enter a page break

type a character

press cmd-enter to enter a page break

type a character

When I then have my curse before the first character on the first page and press down, it doesn't take me to page 2 as I would expect but to the after the final character on the final page.

I noticed this behavior for the first time today - I think something has changed because I use page breaks regularly. I have tried shutting word completely and restarting my Macintosh but the problem persists.

Cheers,

Alan

Answer 1

Hi,

Thank you for sharing your question. I understand how confusing it is when a simple action like adding a page break suddenly causes your cursor to jump to the bottom of the document instead of moving to the next page. It’s especially frustrating when you rely on this workflow regularly, and the behavior changes unexpectedly. [learn.microsoft.com]

What you are seeing is consistent with a recently reported navigation bug affecting Word for macOS after a recent Office update. Other users have described the same behavior—cursor jumps to the last page after interacting near a page break—and Microsoft confirms it began appearing in the latest builds. This indicates the issue is not caused by your document or settings, but by the version of Word currently installed on macOS.

A practical resolution is to temporarily install an earlier stable version of Word (for example 16.104 or 16.105) until Microsoft releases a fix. Microsoft support advisors have already recommended rolling back Word by moving the app to the Bin, then reinstalling a previous version from the official Office for Mac update history page. This restores normal cursor navigation and prevents the jump‑to‑end behavior until an updated patch is released.

Before going further, can you check which exact Word version your Mac is currently running by opening Word → Word menu → About Word? Knowing your version helps confirm whether you’re on one of the builds linked to this issue.

Feel free to follow up with your version number and I’ll guide you step‑by‑step through fixing the problem.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Best Regards,

Noel

Answer 2

It seems that you are experiencing an issue with the cursor behavior in Word for macOS after inserting page breaks. This can sometimes occur due to specific settings or bugs in the software. Here are a few troubleshooting steps you can try:

1. Check for Updates: Ensure that you have the latest version of Word installed. Sometimes, updates include bug fixes that can resolve such issues.
2. Reset Preferences: Occasionally, corrupted preferences can lead to unexpected behavior. You might want to reset Word preferences to see if that resolves the issue.
3. Test in Safe Mode: Start Word in Safe Mode to see if the issue persists. You can do this by holding down the Shift key while starting Word. If the problem does not occur in Safe Mode, it may be due to an add-in or extension.
4. Check Document Formatting: Ensure that there are no unusual formatting settings in your document that might be affecting the cursor movement.
5. Reinstall Word: If none of the above steps work, consider reinstalling Word to fix any potential installation issues.

If the problem continues after trying these steps, it may be beneficial to report the issue to Microsoft support for further assistance.

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References:

• Why is my word document skipping whole pages? - Microsoft Q&A
• Menu list is not showing and covered by the blue title bar - Microsoft Q&A