No Space Before at the Top of a Page

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 21, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


When you define characteristics for a particular paragraph style, one of the settings you can make is for Word to leave a certain amount of vertical space before the paragraph. (This is done on the Indents and Spacing tab of the Paragraph dialog box.) William was wondering if there was a way to set Word 2000 to cause a style, particularly a heading, to ignore the space before setting when that paragraph is at the top of a page.

Word, by default, should suppress the extra space before a paragraph when it is at the beginning of a page, when that paragraph is just part of the normal flow of text. If something is done to alter that flow (such as using a manual page break, a column break, or a section break before the paragraph), then Word treats the vertical spacing differently. In those cases, it still adds the space before instead of suppressing it.

You can change how Word handles the space before by modifying the compatibility options in Word. Choose Options from the Tools menu, then display the Compatibility tab. If you scroll down through the options in the dialog box (they are listed alphabetically), there are several that begin with the word "suppress." You can fiddle with these options to see what effect they have on the vertical placement of your text at the top of a page.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (364) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Removing Pictures from Multiple Files

Working with a single document is easy. Working with thousands of documents becomes much harder. If you need to get rid ...

Discover More

Combining Documents

Need to combine quite a few text documents? A macro may be the easiest way to stuff them all into a single Word document.

Discover More

Workaround for Multiple Rows of Worksheet Tabs

If you've got a lot of worksheets in your workbook, you may want to display their tabs in to rows at the bottom of the ...

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2013. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2013 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Copying Paragraph Formatting with the Mouse

When you get one paragraph formatted just the way you want, you might want to copy that formatting so it can be applied ...

Discover More

Retaining Explicit Formatting after Applying Styles

The formatting in a document is often a mix of styles and explicit formatting, applied over time. You may want to apply ...

Discover More

Creating a Double Hanging Indent

A hanging indent is a type of paragraph formatting in which all lines of the paragraph are indented from the left margin ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 0 + 7?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.