WD: Merged Documents Do Not Start on a New Page (120109)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Word for Windows 6.0
  • Microsoft Word for Windows 6.0a
  • Microsoft Word for Windows 6.0c
  • Microsoft Word for Windows NT 6.0
  • Microsoft Word for Windows 95
  • Microsoft Word for Windows 95 7.0a
  • Microsoft Word for the Macintosh 6.0
  • Microsoft Word for the Macintosh 6.0.1
  • Microsoft Word for the Macintosh 6.0.1a
This article was previously published under Q120109

SYMPTOMS

Your new mail merge document does not start each form letter on a new page. Word merges each record immediately after the previous record, and does not insert a page break between each form letter. Instead, Word inserts a soft page break when each page of the resulting merge is full.

This behavior differs from Word version 2.x, which disregarded the Section Start setting and always used a Next Page section break.

CAUSE

Your main document is one section, defined as Continuous.

By default, the Section Start is set to New Page. If this setting is changed to Continuous, Word will use Continuous section breaks to separate the merged documents instead of Next Page section breaks.

WORKAROUND

Modify your main document so that the section starts on a new page. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Open the main document.
  2. On the File menu, click Page Setup in Word versions 6.0 and 7.0 for Windows or Document Layout in Word for the Macintosh.
  3. Click the Layout tab.
  4. From the Section Start list, select New Page. Click OK.
  5. Repeat your merge.
NOTE: In Word 6.0 or 7.0, if you want to create a merged document that contains multiple records per page, choose the Catalog option when creating your mail merge main document.

STATUS

We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available. This problem was corrected in Microsoft Word 97 for Windows.

REFERENCES

"Microsoft Word User's Guide," version 6.0, page 253
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:8/16/2005
Keywords:kbbug kbmerge KB120109
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