Paragraph spacing and page breaks

In this lesson

Set spacing and indents, keep headings with their text and check the memo on A4 and Letter paper.

Practice material

Office move — Word project brief (Markdown) ↓

Start with the practice file. Open the worked answer after trying the exercise. CSV and text briefs are also available. All resources and import notes →

Example

A two-page memo that should be one page

Blank paragraphs push the short office move memo onto a second page. Spaces indent several lines, and repeated Enter presses position its title. Colleagues in London and Seattle may use different paper sizes. Replace the extra spaces and blank lines with paragraph settings, then compare A4 and Letter.

How it works

Paragraph spacing controls gaps between paragraphs; line spacing controls gaps within one paragraph. Repeated Enter presses leave empty paragraphs that move when the text changes. Set the gap in the Paragraph dialog instead.

A page break starts a new page. A section break also allows different page settings. Keep with next keeps a heading with its following paragraph. Widow/orphan control helps prevent a single line being left at a page boundary.

Steps

Turn on Home › Show/Hide ¶. Remove empty paragraphs used for spacing and repeated spaces at the start of lines. Keep paragraph breaks that separate the actual sections.
Choose Layout › Size › A4 and Margins › Normal. Note the paper size before you compare it with Letter later.
Select the body paragraphs. In the Paragraph dialog, set spacing after to 6 pt and line spacing to 1.15. Check whether the memo is easy to scan at these settings.
Apply styles to the title and headings. For a heading, open Paragraph › Line and Page Breaks and select Keep with next.
Make a checklist with Home › Bullets. Adjust its indent using the list or Paragraph controls, rather than adding spaces or tabs to each line.
Place the cursor before the appendix heading and press Ctrl+Enter. With ¶ visible, check that Word shows a page break rather than a stack of empty paragraphs.
Add two sentences near the beginning. In File › Print, check where headings and the last paragraph fall. Change a copy to Letter and compare its page breaks.

Try it yourself

Create a memo with a title, three short sections and a four-item checklist. Put its appendix after a page break. Compare A4 and Letter in a copy and note any changed page breaks.

Show expected result

The appendix starts after one page break. The checklist uses bullets and indents, with no space-aligned items or stacks of empty paragraphs.
Headings stay with their following paragraphs when you add text. Print Preview shows the selected paper size.

If something goes wrong

A heading sits alone at the bottom of a page.: Apply Keep with next to the heading. If the next paragraph still moves, check it for Page break before or another page-break setting.
A blank page appears before the appendix.: Show ¶ and look for an extra page break or an odd/even section break. Remove the unwanted break instead of shrinking all the text.

Quick check

Try these questions after the exercise. Check the result in your app before marking the lesson complete.

1. What creates consistent gaps between body paragraphs?

Repeated Enter pressesParagraph spacingSpaces at the start of a line

2. Which command starts an appendix on a new page?

A page breakA larger zoom settingA comment

3. Which setting helps prevent a heading being separated from its paragraph?

Match caseAutoCorrectKeep with next

Choose an answer for all 3 questions to check your understanding.

Optional: try it with Copilot

If you have Copilot, try this after the exercise. Keep the original file and compare its suggestions with your own result.

Point out layout problems in this memo, including empty paragraphs, inconsistent spacing and headings separated from their text. Suggest paragraph settings without changing the wording or paper size.