Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 12, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003
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.
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