WD97: Footnote Moved to Next Page

Part or all of a footnote may be moved to the next page if it does not fit on the page on which the reference occurs.

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 appropriate method 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 6.0/95.
3. Under Options, click to change the Use printer metrics to lay out document check box (if there is a check, clear it; if there is not a check, enter one).

NOTE: In most cases, clearing 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 then 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. Under Line Spacing, click Exactly. Under AT, increase the point size to the size that you want (for a 12-point font, try Exactly 24 PT for double-line spacing).
4. 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 by a Few Points

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, 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 note pane, select Footnote Separator from the Footnotes (or Notes) 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 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 select Custom Mark, type an asterisk, and then click OK.
3. Select the new footnote asterisk by pressing SHIFT+HOME. 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.

Method 10: Use Inline Elements

If possible, do not anchor drawing objects in the header\footer layer. Use inline elements instead of float-over-text items. For example, drawn horizontal lines can be replaced with bordered table cells, or text boxes can be replaced with frames. Clip art should be placed inline instead of float over text.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was corrected in Microsoft Word 2000. However, for backward compatibility, Word 2000 maintains the original layout of older documents by default.

To correct this behavior in Word 2000, use the following steps:

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.

For additional information about footnotes, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: