Guest Author - Chris Curtis

Sections breaks are necessary for changing the layout of pages within your document. When you want to change the page number sequence, put text into columns, change the page orientation, change headers or footers or change the margins, section breaks allow you to make those format changes without it affecting other parts of the document. For example: if you wanted to have a Title page at the beginning of your document and for it to be centered vertically on the page, you need to have a section break following the title page so that the text of your document can be formatted correctly. Another example would be to display a table or chart in a landscape orientation on a page in the middle of your document, you would need to insert a section break before and after that page.

When you select from this point forward in certain format dialog boxes, Word automatically creates a section break. Two formatting choices where this will occur is changing to a column style or changing the margin settings. There are four types of sections breaks.

• Next page will create a section break and start a new page
• Continuous will create a section break on the same page. The automatic page breaks created when from this point forward is selected creates this type of a section break.
• Even page creates the section break on the next even numbered page.
• Odd Page creats the section break on the next odd numbered page.

Section breaks work very similarly to page breaks. Word creates a break shown as a double dotted line with the words "Section Break" with the type of section break used parenthetically displayed.. The break descriptor is centered within the dotted lines.

To insert a section break:
• Select Insert | Break from the main menu
• Click on the radial button that best suits the type of section break you want to use.
• Click on OK to close the dialog box and effect the break

You would delete a section break using the same methodology as deleting a page break. It is easiest to accomplish if you use the show/hide feature to view where the paragraph markers and section breaks are located.
• Place your cursor between the last paragraph marker and the section break lines
• Press the delete key

Alternatively, the Normal View will display the section breaks. The technique to delete is essentially the same.

Experiment using section breaks to utilize different layouts within the same document.