Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. 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: Moving Section Breaks.

Moving Section Breaks

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated April 10, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365


As you work with Word, you will undoubtedly have a need to move a section break at one time or another. Section breaks in Word are treated the same as any other character. If you are using Draft view, section breaks appear as a thin double line from one side of your document to the other. If you are not working in Draft view, you may want to consider changing to Draft view, as editing special characters (such as the section break) is easier in that view.

To move a section break, follow these steps:

  1. Select the section break just as you would select any other text.
  2. Press Ctrl+X. The section break is cut from your document.
  3. Position the insertion point where you want to insert the section break.
  4. Press Ctrl+V. The section break is inserted in your document.

If you are working in Print Layout view, then section breaks are not normally visible. You can make them visible (along with all the other non-printing characters) by pressing Ctrl+* (that's the asterisk). This is the same as displaying the Home tab of the ribbon and clicking the Show/Hide tool in the Paragraph group. (The Show/Hide tool looks like a backwards P, a symbol technically called a pilcrow.) You can then move the section breaks by following the four steps just mentioned.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (9229) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Moving Section Breaks.

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. ...

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