Shifting Margins Evident in Word 2002

Summary: When you open a document in one version of Word and compare it to what you see for the same document in a different version of Word, you may notice some differences. Many times these differences are caused by "rule changes" from one version of Word to another. This tip explains how you can use the compatibility options in Word to help documents be treated the same. (This tip works with Microsoft Word 2000, and Word 2002.)

Matt is experiencing a problem with documents created in Word 2000 and then viewed in Word 2002. He's noticing a shift in the top and bottom margins of the pages. When he opens a document that was created in Word 2000 on a Word 2002 system, the two margins are shifted upwards, even though the margin settings are the same.

This is caused by different ways in which the two versions of Word calculate the effect that line spacing has on the margins. The easiest way to make sure that the two versions handle margins the same is to follow these steps:

Open the document in the Word 2000 system.
Choose Options from the Tools menu. Word displays the Options dialog box.
Make sure the Compatibility tab is displayed. (Click here to see a related figure.)
Note which compatibility options are selected. Pay particular attention to the settings entitled Suppress Extra Line Spacing at Bottom of Page and Suppress Extra Line Spacing at Top of Page.
Close the Options dialog box.
Open the document in the Word 2002 system.
Choose Options from the Tools menu. Word displays the Options dialog box.
Make sure the Compatibility tab is displayed.
Make sure the compatibility options are set the same as they are on the Word 2000 system.
Close the Options dialog box.

Tip #297 applies to Microsoft Word versions: 2000 | 2002

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Shifting Margins Evident in Word 2002