Text Incorrectly Appears in Merged Headers and Footers

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This article was previously published under Q176691

SYMPTOMS

When you merge a multiple-section document to a new document, the first section of each record after the first record shows the wrong text in the header and footer. The first section in the new document is blank, but the first section of every record thereafter shows the text of the header or footer of the preceding section.

This behavior does not occur when you merge directly to the printer.

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CAUSE

When you merge to a new document, Word inserts a section break between records. In a document with more than one section, if a section has nothing typed in its header or footer, Word reprints the text of the header and footer of the preceding section. Because the first section of the second record (and all subsequent records) is blank, Word copies the header and footer of the last section.

When you merge directly to the printer, it performs the merge correctly. Word sends each section directly to the printer rather than adding them all to one document, and, therefore it does not copy the text of the last section into the first section.

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RESOLUTION

To work around this problem, use any of the following methods.

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Method 1: Insert a Blank Space in the Header or Footer

To do this, follow these steps:

Position the insertion point into the first section of the main document and then click Header And Footer on the View menu.
Enter a space or other nonprinting character in the blank header.
Click Close.

This allows the first section's header of every record to remain void of text.

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Method 2: Change the Section Formatting

To do this, follow these steps:

Position the insertion point into the main document, and click Document on the Format menu.
Click the Layout tab, select Different First Page, and then click OK.

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Method 3: Merge Directly to the Printer

Merge the document directly to the printer instead of merging to a new document.

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MORE INFORMATION

Example

If the mail merge main document looks like this

   |----------|   |----------|   |----------|
   |  blank   |   |  header  |   |  header  |
   | 1st page |   |          |   |          |
   |  header  |   |          |   |          |
   |          |   |          |   |          |
   |          |   |          |   |          |
   |          |   |          |   |          |
   | footer   |   |  footer  |   |  footer  |
   |----------|   |----------|   |----------|
      page 1         page 2         page 3

you would expect a two-record Merge To New Document to look like this:

   |----------|   |----------|   |----------|
   |  blank   |   |  header  |   |  header  |
   | 1st page |   |          |   |          |
   |  header  |   |          |   |          |     Record 1
   |          |   |          |   |          |
   |          |   |          |   |          |
   |          |   |          |   |          |
   | footer   |   | footer   |   | footer   |
   |----------|   |----------|   |----------|
      page 1         page 2         page 3

   |----------|   |----------|   |----------|
   |  blank   |   |  header  |   |  header  |
   | 1st page |   |          |   |          |
   |  header  |   |          |   |          |     Record 2
   |          |   |          |   |          |
   |          |   |          |   |          |
   |          |   |          |   |          |
   | footer   |   |  footer  |   | footer   |
   |----------|   |----------|   |----------|
      page 4         page 5         page 6

Instead, what appears in the merged document resembles the following:

   |----------|   |----------|   |----------|
   |  blank   |   |  header  |   |  header  |
   | 1st page |   |          |   |          |
   |  header  |   |          |   |          |     Record 1
   |          |   |          |   |          |
   |          |   |          |   |          |
   |          |   |          |   |          |
   | footer   |   | footer   |   | footer   |
   |----------|   |----------|   |----------|
      page 1         page 2         page 3

   |----------|   |----------|   |----------|
   |  header  |   |  header  |   |  header  |
   |          |   |          |   |          |
   |          |   |          |   |          |     Record 2
   |          |   |          |   |          |
   |          |   |          |   |          |
   |          |   |          |   |          |
   | footer   |   |  footer  |   | footer   |
   |----------|   |----------|   |----------|
      page 4        page 5          page 6

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

135988 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/135988/EN-US/ ) WD:Text Incorrectly Appears in Merged Headers and Footers

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APPLIES TO

Microsoft Word 2001 for Mac
Microsoft Word 98 for Macintosh

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kbbug kbfaq kbfix KB176691

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Retired KB Content Disclaimer

This article was written about products for which Microsoft no longer offers support. Therefore, this article is offered "as is" and will no longer be updated.

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