Tip #3802 - Breaking the Connection: MS Word's Headers and Footers
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Breaking
the Connection: MS Word's Headers and Footers
Here's the scenario:
You're working in MS Word and it's time to set up your header or footer
information.
Everything is going
well, except there's one small catch. (Isn't there just always "one
small catch"?!)
The document you're
working on requires different header or footer information at different
locations. (Maybe you need the first few pages numbered with Roman Numerals
and the rest the usual way of 1, 2, 3, etc).
And to make things
a bit worse, it's not different by either odd or even pages. So, just
checking a quick box in the Page Setup window won't do the trick.
What next?
Well, believe it or
not, the trick you're looking for has been with you the whole time.
On the Header and
Footer toolbar, you'll find a button for "Same as previous."
Unfortunately, it's
not as easy as simply clicking the button to create a new header or footer.
You have a little bit of "setup" work to do first.
Word will only break
the connection of headers and footers by sections. That is, sections,
not pages.
So, you've got to
put your section breaking skills to good use.
If your document isn't
already sectioned off, you'll need to create section breaks
at any point where the header or footer will be different from the previous
pages.
Once the section breaks
are in, you're then ready to begin.
Simply put
your cursor into the section where the header or footer should
be different from the previous pages.
Use the View
menu, Header and Footer choice to open the toolbar.
Your cursor will go
into the nearest header box. You should notice that above the header or
footer box, there's a label telling you where you are in the document
and more importantly, on the right, it should say "Same as
previous."
At this point, the
"Same as Previous" button
should be active. Click it.
The label "Same
as previous" should be removed from the header labeling.
Now, you're ready
to make your changes to the header in this section.
Whatever changes you
make will flow throughout the document until you make another change in
a later section.
The connection between
the footers is not automatically broken with the headers. If you want
that to be different as well, you'll have to click into a footer and use
the "Same as previous" button again.
Change your mind about
the connection break?
No problem.
Reopen the
header or footer and click the "Same as previous"
button again.
You will receive a
warning letting you know that you are about to reconnect the header or
footer to the previous section.
Confirm your choice
by clicking the Yes button.
Poof!
The header or footer
is following the format of the previous section and just like that, all
the changes are erased. It doesn't get any better than that!
~ April
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