How to delete a Section Break without loosing the format of the previous section?

Hello,

I would like to know How to delete a Section Break without loosing the format of the previous section? The section break I want to delete does not have any Header and Footer and when I delete it automatically deletes the Header and Footers of the previous section.

BR

July 8th, 2011 11:52am

You should tell something about the Word version you are using. This makes it easier to give detailed instructions.

In general: You can go into the header section of the last section. Activate the "link to previous" option. Confirm, that the header/footer should be replaced. After that you can delete the section and the header remains in the first section.

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July 8th, 2011 6:22pm

Hello,

I am using MS Office 2007. Ok but is there any other way to do that?

July 11th, 2011 11:45am

In essence you can't do what you are asking. Although Section Breaks give the impression being at the beginning of the section, they are actually at the end and contain all the section-specific formatting for what is in the section before them. When you delete a section break the section above gets merged into, and takes the properties of, the section below. Every case is different and must be treated individually; there is no magic bullet :-(  
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July 11th, 2011 6:40pm

See also http://word.mvps.org/faqs/formatting/WorkWithSections.htm.  
July 11th, 2011 8:18pm

In essence you can't do what you are asking. Although Section Breaks give the impression being at the beginning of the section, they are actually at the end and contain all the section-specific formatting for what is in the section before them. When you delete a section break the section above gets merged into, and takes the properties of, the section below. Every case is different and must be treated individually; there is no magic bullet :-( &n
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November 30th, 2011 7:41pm

"markey164" wrote in message news:a04d20d2-5e00-4b23-bfdf-a7a45eaf24ef@communitybridge.codeplex.com...
Actually, you CAN do what the OP is asking.   To do so, select an area just above the section break, then click File > Page Setup (or File->Print->Page Setup in Word 2010). Then click on each of the three tabs (don't change any settings) then click OK.   Now, click just after the section break and press F4. This will copy the formatting from the area above the section break, to the area below the section break. You can then safely delete the section break as per:   http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/delete-a-section-break-HA1027
November 30th, 2011 10:03pm

Genius - thanks. That just saved me a headache!!!!
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May 8th, 2013 11:37am

You saved me an afternoon of frustration - thanks!
July 4th, 2013 2:51pm

I've the same problem.  This is how I work around it.  Select the footer of section to be deleted.  Link to previous.  Unlink to previous.  Delete section break.

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August 28th, 2013 5:19am

Is it just me or this completely counter intuitive? It should be the other way around, delete a section break and it keeps the formatting from the section prior.

God damn you microsoft

November 6th, 2013 5:31am

As has been discussed, deleting a Section break causes the Section preceding the break to assume the page layout of the following Section. The following macro works the other way, across multiple (selected) Section breaks. All common page layout issues (margins, page orientation, text columns, headers & footers) are addressed.

Sub MergeSections()
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
Dim sPageHght As Single, sPageWdth As Single
Dim sHeaderDist As Single, sFooterDist As Single
Dim sTMargin As Single, sBMargin As Single
Dim sLMargin As Single, sRMargin As Single
Dim sGutter As Single, sGutterPos As Single
Dim lPaperSize As Long, lGutterStyle As Long
Dim lMirrorMargins As Long, lVerticalAlignment As Long
Dim lScnStart As Long, lScnDir As Long
Dim lOddEvenHdFt As Long, lDiffFirstHdFt As Long
Dim bTwoPagesOnOne As Boolean, bBkFldPrnt As Boolean
Dim bBkFldPrnShts As Boolean, bBkFldRevPrnt As Boolean
Dim bOrientation As Boolean, oHdFt As HeaderFooter
Dim Sctn1 As Section, Sctn2 As Section
With Selection
  If .Sections.Count = 1 Then
    MsgBox "Selection does not span a Section break", vbExclamation
    Exit Sub
  End If
  Set Sctn1 = .Sections.First: Set Sctn2 = .Sections.Last
  With Sctn1.PageSetup
    lPaperSize = .PaperSize
    lGutterStyle = .GutterStyle
    bOrientation = .Orientation
    lMirrorMargins = .MirrorMargins
    lScnStart = .SectionStart
    lScnDir = .SectionDirection
    lOddEvenHdFt = .OddAndEvenPagesHeaderFooter
    lDiffFirstHdFt = .DifferentFirstPageHeaderFooter
    lVerticalAlignment = .VerticalAlignment
    sPageHght = .PageHeight
    sPageWdth = .PageWidth
    sTMargin = .TopMargin
    sBMargin = .BottomMargin
    sLMargin = .LeftMargin
    sRMargin = .RightMargin
    sGutter = .Gutter
    sGutterPos = .GutterPos
    sHeaderDist = .HeaderDistance
    sFooterDist = .FooterDistance
    bTwoPagesOnOne = .TwoPagesOnOne
    bBkFldPrnt = .BookFoldPrinting
    bBkFldPrnShts = .BookFoldPrintingSheets
    bBkFldRevPrnt = .BookFoldRevPrinting
  End With
  With Sctn2.PageSetup
    .GutterStyle = lGutterStyle
    .MirrorMargins = lMirrorMargins
    .SectionStart = lScnStart
    .SectionDirection = lScnDir
    .OddAndEvenPagesHeaderFooter = lOddEvenHdFt
    .DifferentFirstPageHeaderFooter = lDiffFirstHdFt
    .VerticalAlignment = lVerticalAlignment
    .PageHeight = sPageHght
    .PageWidth = sPageWdth
    .TopMargin = sTMargin
    .BottomMargin = sBMargin
    .LeftMargin = sLMargin
    .RightMargin = sRMargin
    .Gutter = sGutter
    .GutterPos = sGutterPos
    .HeaderDistance = sHeaderDist
    .FooterDistance = sFooterDist
    .TwoPagesOnOne = bTwoPagesOnOne
    .BookFoldPrinting = bBkFldPrnt
    .BookFoldPrintingSheets = bBkFldPrnShts
    .BookFoldRevPrinting = bBkFldRevPrnt
    .PaperSize = lPaperSize
    .Orientation = bOrientation
  End With
  With Sctn2
    For Each oHdFt In .Footers
      oHdFt.LinkToPrevious = Sctn1.Footers(oHdFt.Index).LinkToPrevious
      If oHdFt.LinkToPrevious = False Then
        Sctn1.Headers(oHdFt.Index).Range.Copy
        oHdFt.Range.Paste
      End If
    Next
    For Each oHdFt In .Headers
      oHdFt.LinkToPrevious = Sctn1.Headers(oHdFt.Index).LinkToPrevious
      If oHdFt.LinkToPrevious = False Then
        Sctn1.Headers(oHdFt.Index).Range.Copy
        oHdFt.Range.Paste
      End If
    Next
  End With
  While .Sections.Count > 1
    .Sections.First.Range.Characters.Last.Delete
  Wend
  Set Sctn1 = Nothing: Set Sctn2 = Nothing
End With
Application.ScreenUpdating = True
E

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November 6th, 2013 11:29pm

It's Microsoft.

The same company that changes the Windows UI every two years to keep the impression they're doing something to improve the O.S. instead of crossing their fingers so the gaming industry don't switch to OpenGL.

They don't give a **** if you and hundreds of millions of people think that it's counter-intuitive. They too busy praying for the big companies to stick with Windows Server and the rest of the enterprise portfolio...


  • Edited by Abelius Thursday, November 14, 2013 1:16 AM
November 14th, 2013 1:15am

This is completely wrong. It is possible to do it quite easily. See other posts for the corerct answer.
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April 25th, 2014 4:10pm

Thank you very much, it works magic!
January 26th, 2015 7:31am

If you're referring to the approach suggested by markey165 on November 30, 2011, do be aware that it does not work for the original poster's requirements, which included preserving header & footer content from the preceding Section - which may or may not be linked to the Section before that. All that approach does is to replicate the basic page layout. The macro I posted on November 06, 2013 both replicates the page layout and preserves the header & footer content from the preceding Section, plus it allows you to merge more than one Section at a time.
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January 26th, 2015 10:18am

Is it just me or this completely counter intuitive? It should be the other way around, delete a section break and it keeps the formatting from the section prior.

God damn you microsoft

It is counterintuitive. That is because of the structure of Word, itself. However, see the macro provided by macropod. It does the trick.
January 26th, 2015 4:46pm

@markey165 I know this is an old thread but it worked like clockwork for me, thank you!  Saved me lots of time :)
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March 4th, 2015 1:24pm

Wow - this is like magic.

THANK you so much!!!

By the way: In Word 2010 and 2013 the "Page Setup" text is blue, quite small and on the very end of the list

March 4th, 2015 3:15pm

Tighten it up, then it won't be loose.

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July 6th, 2015 6:58pm

Glad it helped :)
July 27th, 2015 9:34am

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