Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Controlling Widows and Orphans.
In typographical terminology, widows and orphans are closely related (no pun intended). These terms refer to one (and sometimes two) lines of a paragraph left by itself on a page. A widow is the last line of a paragraph left by itself at the top of a page; an orphan is the first line of a paragraph left by itself at the bottom of a page. You will want to avoid both widows and orphans in your documents, as they break up the flow of the text and tend to distract the reader.
Word allows you to automatically control single-line widows and orphans in your documents. To control widows and orphans in your documents, follow these steps:
Figure 1. The Line and Page Breaks tab of the Paragraph dialog box.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1149) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Controlling Widows and Orphans.
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!
Need a quick shortcut that you can use to center your paragraph between the margins? The answer is here.
Discover MoreIf you are a WordPerfect user, you may be very familiar with the block-protect feature and wonder if there is a similar tool ...
Discover MoreThe formatting in a document is often a mix of styles and explicit formatting, applied over time. You may want to apply ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
2016-12-25 11:57:45
Digmen1
The sooner everyone in the world updates to Word 2016 and or Office 365, the better.
Then we can all concentrate on just one version of Word and really get t know it.
2016-12-25 11:54:07
Digmen1
Coudl you explain what the other 3 options do, eg "Keep with next"
Microsoft really need to up their game here. eg Keep with next.
Keep what, with next what?
2016-06-08 14:00:54
Daniel
Ok my problem is keeping a section heading together with the next paragraph toward the end of a page. Even though there is room for 3 lines of text word places the next paragraph on the next page. It should place the first 3 lines of the paragraph below the heading. Pretty crazy. What do you call that? Ragamuffin? Castaway? Waif?
2016-03-01 07:03:47
GeordieLad
For Bobby 29Feb2016
Why don't you read the "Please Note" box at the beginning of the tip which clearly points you to tips for later versions of Word! I don't know if the tip you want is there (I'm still using Word 2000) but it should stop you cluttering up this site.
2016-02-29 10:02:34
Bobby
This is out of date for me, I have Microsoft Word 2013
2015-09-24 10:30:06
Steve Dunham
Veronica, what you need is a nonbreaking space. You can search for all instances of "Mrs. Mackin" and replaced them with "Mrs.^sMackin" (that "^s" is what you use in the Find & Replace menu to designate a nonbreaking space.
2015-08-16 16:20:10
Meredith
I'm using Word 2002 and can't seem to get this to work in a numbered list. Widow and orphan control is turned on, but it's not working. It's leaving the last line of one of my paragraphs on the next page (an orphan).I'm not sure if there's another way to fix this when dealing with a list. The list has a blank line between each of the numbers as well (which is the way I want it to funtion).
2015-03-19 13:12:43
Veronica
I want to make sure "Mrs. Mackin" always appears together on the same line and are never separated.
2014-12-27 20:54:02
Anna Jacobs
I did all that and it doesn't work. I have Word 2013 and I see that I'm not the only one having trouble. Ed is in the same struggle.
My theory is that the Microsoft boffins who create Word (and then change it unnecessarily) do not actually use the program day in day out to create documents.
Can't you do a business version for people like me (a novelist)? I only want to write documents and do emails, not do all that fancy stuff.
2014-12-13 18:59:42
I'm having issues with the last word of the last line on a page jumping to the first line on the next page even though the page text is "justified." Strange. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
Rich
2014-08-25 14:27:59
awyatt
Ed: You are correct; it does not apply to Word 2013. But if you click the link given at the beginning and end of the tip, you'll find a version that does apply to later versions of Word.
-Allen
2014-08-25 14:24:18
Ed
This tip does not apply to Word 2013. I have an existing 69 page document with a double linefeed to begin a new paragraph. Using any combination of one or all of the four Pagination rules, I still get widows and orphans throughout the document.
Still searching for the answer.
2014-08-17 09:52:03
yuyu
wow this is amazing
2014-05-20 07:40:00
Zino
It's very good, helped me a great deal. Thanks! ;>
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.
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2017 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: 
Comments