Applies to: Word 2016, Word 2013, Word 2010, Word 2007, Word 2003
Section breaks in Word are vital to grasp if you are creating long documents with different headers and footers, mixing portrait and landscape or working with different numbers of columns.
There are two main types of section break:
- Next page
- Continuous
You can also choose to start a Next Page break on an Even Page or Odd Page. This is useful if you are doing doubled-sided (duplex) printing and always want the new section to start on the front of the page rather than the reverse side.
NEXT PAGE SECTION BREAKS
Next Page Section breaks are always required in a document that has different headers and footers or a mixture of portrait and landscape because these features are page formatting features. Page formatting features are features that can only be applied to whole pages rather than paragraphs or selected text.
CONTINUOUS SECTION BREAKS
You need to use Continuous Section breaks if you want to change the column layout from one to more or vice versa on the same page (see later)
HOW TO SET UP A SECTION BREAK IN WORD
- Place the cursor where you want the section break to occur
Word 2003
Step 1
From the Insert tab
Step 2
Click Break
Step 3
From Section break types
Step 4
Step 5
Notes
Word 2007
Step 1
From the Page Layout tab
Step 2
In the Page Setup group
Step 3
Click the down arrow to the right of Breaks
Step 4
From Section breaks
Step 5
Notes
Word 2010
Step 1
From the Page Layout tab
Step 2
In the Page Setup group
Step 3
Click the down arrow to the right of Breaks
Step 4
From Section breaks
Step 5
Notes
Word 2013
Step 1
From the Layout tab
Step 2
In the Page Setup group
Step 3
Click the down arrow to the right of Breaks
Step 4
From Section breaks
Step 5
Notes
Word 2016
Step 1
From the Layout tab
Step 2
In the Page Setup group
Step 3
Click the down arrow to the right of Breaks
Step 4
From Section Breaks
Step 5
Notes
- Select Next Page or Continuous
Note: Like the Page break, a Section break does not show in your document when you are editing it unless you have the Show/Hide feature turned on.
USING SECTION BREAKS IN WORD TO SET UP DIFFERENT HEADERS AND FOOTERS
Sometimes in a document you need particular headers or footers at certain points in the document. The most common situation is perhaps when you wish to add an appendix with its own page numbering, or a series of schedules in legal work. Or you may wish to divide your document into Chapters or other types of section, each with their own page numbering starting again from 1.
Note: if you only need the first page to be different (for example if you don’t want the first page of a letter or report to have a number) you don’t need to set up a section break – there is a special Different first page feature. Similarly, if you need odd and even pages to have different headers and footers there is a special Different odd and even feature for that.
SET UP DIFFERENT HEADERS OR FOOTERS
- Insert your Next Page section break
- Go to the Header (or Footer) at the top (or bottom) of your first page in order to edit your 1st section Header (or Footer)
- Type the text of your Header (or Footer) or insert a page number, date or document info option e.g. filename
- Go to the top (or bottom) of the first page of the next section:
Word 2003
Step 1
From the pop-up Header and Footer Design toolbar
Step 2
Click image Show Next
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5
Notes
Word 2007
Step 1
From the Design tab under Header and Footer Tools
Step 2
In the Navigation group
Step 3
Click Next
Step 4
Step 5
Notes
Word 2010
Step 1
From the Design tab under Header and Footer Tools
Step 2
In the Navigation group
Step 3
Click Next
Step 4
Step 5
Notes
Word 2013
Step 1
From the Design tab under Header and Footer Tools
Step 2
In the Navigation group
Step 3
Click Next
Step 4
Step 5
Notes
Word 2016
Step 1
From the Design tab under Header and Footer Tools
Step 2
In the Navigation group
Step 3
Click Next
Step 4
Step 5
Notes
- Break the link with the previous section by clicking Link to Previous
- Type in your Header (or Footer) for the current section
- Repeat from Step 1 for each section in your document
USING SECTION BREAKS IN WORD TO ADD A LANDSCAPE PAGE TO A PORTRAIT DOCUMENT (AND VICE VERSA)
When mixing landscape and portrait pages in a document you need to use Next Page section breaks each time you change:
- Place your cursor where you want to change from landscape to portrait {or vice versa)
- Insert a Next Page section break
- Select your Page Orientation, Landscape or Portrait
USING SECTION BREAKS IN WORD TO SET UP MORE COLUMNS
When you want to set up two columns or more on the same page of your document (i.e. without starting a new page) you need to use a Continuous Page section break:
- Place your cursor where you want to change the number of columns on your page
- Insert a Continuous Page section break
- Go ahead and select the number of columns you want
To change back to a single column, repeat the above steps, selecting One column at the last step.
DELETE A SECTION BREAK IN WORD
To delete a section break you first need to click the Show/Hide button 
(from the Home tab) to reveal the paragraph symbols and Section Break markers.
Then click in the left margin to select (highlight) the whole Section Break marker and press the Delete key (Del) or the Backspace Delete key:
MOVE A SECTION BREAK IN WORD
You can move a section break by selecting it as above and cutting and pasting it but… beware! It may change the format of your document unexpectedly.