Forum Discussion
Problem with footnotes
When I add a footnote in (all) Word files, it automatically adds an Enter key below the footnote. When I close Word and reopen it, it duplicates that Enter key. Microsoft Help has already been contacted; he performed updates and also checked options and paragraphs options, but found nothing. He referred me here because it appears to be an underlying problem. How can I solve this?
Right click one of the footnotes > paragraph > indents & spacing tab. I assume you're Spacing After is 12 pts (or something other than 0)? If so, that's what is causing the blank line below each footnote (it's likely built into the Footnote Text style). If that setting says "auto," try switching it to 12 pt (2 up arrows) and see if you get the same result re: spacing. However, the spacing doesn't multiply on its own in my experience. Are you using a .doc or a .docx file? If .doc, convert to .docx and see if the behavior persists. Also, when you hit Ctrl + P, do you see the same spacing in print preview that you do when editing the document? Confirm that the Footnote Text style is being applied to your footnote (and hasn't been switched to something else). If it's something else, re-apply Footnote Text and see if that makes any difference.
6 Replies
It looks like your footnotes are leaving unwanted blank lines. The quickest fix is to check the Footnote Separator in Draft View - go to View > Draft, then References > Show Notes, choose Footnote Separator, and delete any extra paragraph marks. If that doesn’t help, look at the Footnote Text style in the Styles pane and remove extra spacing there. Converting the document out of Compatibility Mode or repairing the file can also clear hidden formatting issues.
I think you will have to share a screen shot with the forum so that we can get a clearer view of what is going on...
Before you take the screen shot, make sure to click the ¶ icon on the Home tab to reveal nonprinting characters.
Right click one of the footnotes > paragraph > indents & spacing tab. I assume you're Spacing After is 12 pts (or something other than 0)? If so, that's what is causing the blank line below each footnote (it's likely built into the Footnote Text style). If that setting says "auto," try switching it to 12 pt (2 up arrows) and see if you get the same result re: spacing. However, the spacing doesn't multiply on its own in my experience. Are you using a .doc or a .docx file? If .doc, convert to .docx and see if the behavior persists. Also, when you hit Ctrl + P, do you see the same spacing in print preview that you do when editing the document? Confirm that the Footnote Text style is being applied to your footnote (and hasn't been switched to something else). If it's something else, re-apply Footnote Text and see if that makes any difference.
The issue was in all my documents but when I converted them to .docx it fixed itself. I was literally losing my mind, so thank you so much!
Thanks for the follow-up. What you describe indicates that the "Don't use HTML paragraph auto spacing" could be responsible. You can clear the option explicitly or you can "upgrade" your document to the most recent .docx format.
When the "Don't use HTML paragraph auto spacing" option is selected, Word adds Spacing After to Spacing Before in the following paragraph, as opposed to using the smaller of the two values. For example, 18 pt After followed by 6 pt Before will result in 24 pt of spacing between text paragraphs.
Hi,
Are additional (blank) paragraph breaks inserted after each footnote, or only at the bottom of the page after a block containing multiple footnotes?
A similar problem occurred in earlier versions of Word after style settings were changed. Which version of Word do you use? Are you working in Compatibility mode? Which template is used to create your documents? Does the problem still exist after opening a file by "Open and Repair"?
Best regards,
Lisa
