WD2000: Footnote Moved to the Next Page

Part or all of a footnote may be moved to the next page from which the reference occurs.

If a footnote does not fit in the available space, part of it, and in some cases all of it, may be moved to the next page automatically. The amount of space available depends on the amount of text on the page, the margin settings, and the number and length of the footnotes.

NOTE: If you are using a document that was created in Microsoft Word 97, do the following steps before you try any of the workarounds in this article:

1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
2. On the Compatibility tab, click to clear the Lay out footnotes like Word 6.x/95/97 check box.

If the problem still occurs, continue with the following steps in this article.

If part or all of a footnote on a page is moved to the next page, you may need to change the setting or formatting of a footnote. To control the placement of footnotes, use the method appropriate for your situation.

Method 1: Change the Use Printer Metrics Option

To change the Use Printer Metrics option, follow these steps:

1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Compatibility tab.
2. In the Recommended options for list, click Microsoft Word 2000.
3. Under Options, click to select the Use printer metrics to lay out document check box, and then click OK.

NOTE: In some cases, clicking to clear the Use printer metrics to lay out document check box solves the problem.

Method 2: Change the Line Spacing of the Normal Text to Exactly

Try this method if your document is set to a line spacing other than Single (on the Format menu, click Paragraph, and click the Indents and Spacing tab). Set the line spacing of the normal text of the body to an exact point size. The point size depends on your normal font typeface and point size. To modify the normal text line spacing, follow these steps:

1. On the Edit menu, click Select All.
2. On the Format menu, click Paragraph.
3. Click the Indents and Spacing tab.
4. Under Line spacing, click Exactly and under At, increase the point size to the size you want (for a 12-point font typeface, try Exactly, 30 PT).
5. Click OK.

Method 3: Set the Line Spacing of the Footnote Text Style to Exactly

Set the line spacing of the Footnote Text style to an exact point size, slightly larger than the font size. This reduces the amount of space between footnotes, thus allowing more room for footnotes.

To modify the footnote text line spacing, follow these steps:

1. On the Format menu, click Style.
2. In the Styles list, select Footnote Text, and then click Modify.
3. In the Modify Style dialog box, click Format, and then click Paragraph.
4. In the Line spacing list, click Exactly.
5. In the At box, type a point size slightly larger than the font size of the footnote text, and then click OK. For example, if the font size of the footnote text is 10 points, set the line spacing to exactly 10.5 points.
   
   NOTE: If you set the line spacing to a size smaller than the point size of the type, the top or bottom of the text may not be visible.
6. Click OK, and then click Apply.

Method 4: Reduce the Size of the Footnote Text Style

To modify the Footnote Text style, follow these steps:

1. On the Format menu, click Style.
2. In the Styles list, select Footnote Text, and then click Modify.
3. In the Modify Style dialog box, click Format, and then click Font.
4. In the Size box, reduce the size by a few points, and click OK.
5. Click OK twice, and then click Apply.

Method 5: Reduce the Size of the Page Margins

To reduce the size of the page margins, follow these steps:

1. On the File menu, click Page Setup.
2. On the Margins tab, reduce the margin settings, and then click OK.

Method 6: Reduce the Size of the Text

Reduce the point size of the text by a small amount. If you have applied styles to your text, you can modify the styles directly. If you have not applied styles to your text, highlight the text and use either of the following methods:

• Click Font on the Format menu to change the size of the font.
  
  -or-
• Click Paragraph on the Format menu to change the line spacing of the text.

Method 7: Change the Line Spacing of the Footnote Separator

To change the line spacing of the footnote separator, follow these steps:

1. On the View menu, click Normal.
2. On the View menu, click Footnotes. In the lower pane, click the Notes (arrow) button, and select Footnote Separator from the Footnotes list.
3. Select the footnote separator.
4. On the Format menu, click Paragraph, and, as in Method 2, change the line spacing to an exact amount, such as 4 or 5 points.

Method 8: Change the Footnote Paragraph Widow Orphan Control to Off

1. On the View menu, click Normal.
2. On the View menu, click Footnotes. Select all the footnotes in the note pane.
3. On the Format menu, click Paragraph.
4. Click the Line and Page Breaks tab, and click to clear the Widow/Orphan control check box. Click OK.

Method 9: Add and Hide a Custom Footnote Reference and Footnote

Insert a custom footnote to the right of the offending one, and then format it to be hidden. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Place the insertion point to the right of the last footnote reference number, and then click Footnote on the Insert menu.
2. Under Numbering, click to check Custom mark, type an asterisk (*), and then click OK.
3. Select the new footnote asterisk by pressing the SHIFT+HOME keys. On the Format menu, click Font. Click to select the Hidden check box and then click OK.
4. Select the custom Footnote Reference mark in the body of the document, and on the Format menu, click Font. Click to select the Hidden check box and then click OK.