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 Repagination in Macros.

Controlling Repagination in Macros

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 22, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Ken asked if there is a way to turn off automatic repagination of a Word document while a macro is running. It turns out, in fact, that there are two ways you can handle this.

The first method is use the Pagination property of the Options object. You can set this property to either True or False, as follows:

Options.Pagination = False

This property is the same as setting the Background Repagination option on the General tab of the Options dialog box. (In some versions of Word you can only see this option if you first switch to Normal view.) If the property is set to False, then Word does not perform any background repagination. You can later set the property to True to turn the feature back on.

The second method for handling automatic repagination is to simply turn off screen updating. If your macro does quite a bit of slicing and dicing on the document, this is always a good idea, anyway, as it stops Word from trying to update the display. In some cases, the speed improvement for your macro can be dramatic if you turn off screen updating. You control screen updating in this manner:

Application.ScreenUpdating = False

Again, the ScreenUpdating property can be set to either True or False. If set to False, screen updating is turned off. If you turn it off, you should always set ScreenUpdating to True before ending your macro.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the WordTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1710) 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 Repagination in Macros.

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

Reference to a Range of Endnotes

When multiple endnote references are used at a given point in your document, you may wonder if there is a way to compress ...

Discover More

Creating a Log/Log Chart

If you need to create a chart that uses logarithmic values on both axes, it can be confusing how to get what you want. ...

Discover More

Adding Tabs at the Beginning of a Line

Press a tab at the beginning of a paragraph, and Word normally assumes you want to indent the paragraph. If you don't ...

Discover More

Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2021 or Microsoft 365. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word Step by Step today!

More WordTips (menu)

Determining the Horizontal Position of the Insertion Point

Need to figure out how far the insertion point is from the left margin? You can do so by using this small macro that ...

Discover More

Aligning a Paragraph in a Macro

If you are applying formatting from within a macro, you may want to change the alignment of various paragraphs. Here's ...

Discover More

Offering Options in a Macro

When creating macros, you often need to offer a series of choices to a user. This tip demonstrates how easy it is to ...

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.