Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Keeping Paragraphs on the Same Page.

Keeping Paragraphs on the Same Page

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated April 15, 2022)

For some types of documents you may not want your paragraphs to smoothly flow from one page to the next. Instead, you may want to make sure that any given paragraph appears all on one page or another. I require this type of formatting quite often in letters, legal documents, and proposals.

Word includes a formatting feature that allows you to ensure that paragraphs stay together without a page break in the middle of them. You apply this format characteristic by following these steps:

Select the paragraph or paragraphs you want affected by the formatting change. (If you want the change to a single paragraph only, you can simply make sure the insertion point is within that paragraph.)
Make sure the Home tab of the ribbon is displayed.
Click the small icon at the bottom-right of the Paragraph group. Word displays the Paragraph dialog box.
Display the Line and Page Breaks tab. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Line and Page Breaks tab of the Paragraph dialog box.

Make sure the Keep Lines Together check box is selected.
Click on OK.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (7114) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Keeping Paragraphs on the Same Page.

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. Learn more about Allen...

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What is five more than 2?

2020-11-02 13:52:06

Martha Hagelin

This is one of my most favorite tips. I'm a court reporter and was struggling with paragraphs beginning on another page, messing up my line numbering. This tip saved my sanity years ago! Thanks!

2016-06-13 17:01:16

Pam Riseborough

This doesn't work if the text is in a cell within a table. Is there a fix for that?

2016-06-08 15:18:21

Peter Buxton

I find it pays to split a particularly long paragraph with a carriage return at the end of a convenient sentence. This puts half the para on each page, makes the whole thing easier to read, avoids a mid-sentence page-break and avoids a large white space at the bottom of the previous page.

2016-06-07 11:32:59

Lisa Herider

If you want this done throughout your document, you can edit the style sheet you are using (text, normal, etc.) and make sure the Keep Lines Together check box is selected.

2016-06-05 14:22:56

Oopaydo Roinsin

These tips are tremendous support for me in completing Word documents without having to research the text book on search online for the required help which is usually concerning a previously learned topic yet the learned subject matter is hidden within my subconscious-once I review these tips the topic is front and center again. this particular one refreshed my memory on keeping paragraphs on one page without moving as the doc. is expanded.

2016-06-04 12:10:47

Lorraine Bank

bullets and numbers, how to overide, how to set, how to make text that jumps out to the margin go back to the alignment with the other bullets and numbers in the outline

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