If you have a brief, etc., in Word 2007 in which a footnote drops down to a subsequent page (the number mark within the main text is on p. 2, but all or part of the footnote text keeps dropping down to p. 3), here’s how to fix it:

  • Click the Office Button (top left-hand corner)
  • Click Word Options (at bottom of menu)
  • Go to Advanced
  • Scroll all the way down until you see Compatibility Options
  • In the drop-down next to “Lay out this document as if created in:” choose Microsoft Office Word 2007 (like illustration below)
Compatibility Options in Word 2007
Compatibility Options in Word 2007

Your footnote should now appear on the correct page.

(You’re welcome.)

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4 Comments

  1. This works great PROVIDED that paragraph formats are not set to “Widows and Orphans Control”. Well actually by default that setting is turned on and the above advice fails to work at all.

    So to get the benefit of the above post – first highlight your document (Ctrl A) and change your paragraph format to TURN OFF Widow and Orphan Control.

    Voila, it works.

    Thanks for you help WordGuru. (Maybe I need to update to SP3 for MS Office 2007?)

  2. I thank you SO VERY MUCH! I was going crazy about the …… naughty (haha, very appropriate) footnotes. Thank you, thank you, thank you (I am still looking for some damage it might have done but it seems that none was done actually…). THANK YOU!

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