WD2000: Last Page Footer Text Appears on Multiple Pages or Changes Total Number of Pages

In a Word document that contains footers, you may see the following problems:

• In print preview, when you change the zoom using the Magnifier tool, the total number of pages in the document may change.
  
  -or-
• The footer text appears on multiple pages or does not appear at all.
  
  -or-
• When you print the document, the last page footer is printed on multiple pages.

These problems may occur when both of the following conditions are true:

• The footer contains a field that inserts either a file or text on a specific page (for example, the last page of the document).
  
  -and-
• The inserted text is too long to fit completely on the page.

By default, the footer expands toward the top of the page, as more text is included. As a result, some of the text of the main document may be pushed to the next page.

To work around this problem, use one of the following methods:

Method 1: Change the Bottom Margin of the Section That Contains the Last Page

To prevent this problem, change the bottom margin of the last section of your Word document. To do this, follow these steps:

NOTE: This method can also be used when your Word document contains only one section. However, all of the pages of the document will contain the same (larger) bottom margin.

1. On the View menu, click Header and Footer.
2. On the Header and Footer toolbar, click Switch Between Head and Footer.
3. Click Show Next until you reach the last section of your Word document.
4. On the Header and Footer toolbar, click Page Setup.
5. On the Margins tab, change the Bottom box to a value that will accommodate the inserted footer text, change the Apply to box to either This section or This point forward, and then click OK.

Method 2: Use a Manual Page Break

Insert a page break to force specific text to the last page of your document and to contain the last page footer. To do this, follow these steps.

NOTE: The last page of your document must contain only enough text to allow the inclusion of your footer text.

1. Move the insertion point to the beginning of the text that you want on the last page.
2. Do one of the following to insert a page break:
   • Press CTRL+ENTER.
     
     -or-
   • On the Insert menu, click Break. In the Break dialog box, click to select Page Break, and then click OK.

For additional information about how to insert a footer on the last page of a document, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: