How can I remove the space above the footnote separator?

Anonymous
2012-03-10T06:23:19+00:00

I have a long document with many footnotes. On some pages, a large space, sometimes only enough for one double-spaced line, sometimes enough for two, appears above the footnote separator. How can I get rid of this space? I've turned widow-orphan control off, so it shouldn't be related to that. I've looked at the separator under "show notes" in draft view, and it doesn't appear to have any extra spaces associated with it. This actually happens with all of my Word documents.

Thanks for your insight.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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Stefan Blom 352.7K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
2012-03-10T13:52:16+00:00

When viewing the footnote separator (in the footnotes pane), right-click and select Paragraph from the context menu. In the Paragraph dialog box, click the Indents and Spacing tab, and make sure that Spacing Before is set to zero. You may also want to change the Line Spacing to "Single."

Also, to make sure no blank paragraphs is included with the separator, click the ¶ button on the Home tab. Paragraph marks are represented by pilcrows, ¶. Delete any excessive paragraphs if present.

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-12-29T11:08:48+00:00

    When viewing the footnote separator (in the footnotes pane), right-click and select Paragraph from the context menu. In the Paragraph dialog box, click the Indents and Spacing tab, and make sure that Spacing Before is set to zero. You may also want to change the Line Spacing to "Single."

    Also, to make sure no blank paragraphs is included with the separator, click the ¶ button on the Home tab. Paragraph marks are represented by pilcrows, ¶. Delete any excessive paragraphs if present.

    That is not sufficient. HOW do I delete the apparent paragraph markings when my mouse refuses to go to them. There are at least 3 I want to dispose of.

    OK I clicked on the footnote number in the text I got to the footnotes; then once I realised there is a menu within that lower box of footnotes including footnote separator I could delete the extra pilcrows [new word for me!!] Thanks.

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  2. Stefan Blom 352.7K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2015-10-04T22:25:54+00:00

    In Draft view, you can display a pane for footnotes by clicking Show Notes on the References tab.

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-10-04T22:21:08+00:00

    What is the "footnote number"? In draft view, the footer space does not appear to be accessible.

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  4. Anonymous
    2015-10-04T22:17:28+00:00

    Thanks for this feedback. I also have those settings in place, and the footer space itself has not gone away.

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