This makes it so that my margins aren’t actually one inch all around. Look at the image on the right and how MS Word adjusts the text with the default “Widow/Orphan Control On.” One result is that the bottom of the previous page is left with a bigger white space than normal. Select a paragraph formatted with Normal style. Insert a nonbreaking space by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Space. Keep the last word of a paragraph with the word that precedes it. Insert a nonbreaking hyphen by pressing Ctrl+Shift+. You see that poor little thing down there and say, “Oh my, those other lines just dropped you off and left you here.”Įxamples of each are shown in the image. Keep a hyphenated word from breaking at the end of a line. You have been left to go on all by your lonesome.”Īn “orphan” is when the first line of a paragraph appears alone at the bottom of a page. In the Pagination section uncheck Widow/Orphan control. When you click this icon the Paragraph dialog box will appear.

Click the small square with an arrow on the bottom right corner of the Paragraph group on the Ribbon to open the options dialog box. You have been left to go on all by your lonesome. You look at that lonely line up there and say, Oh, you poor dear. What are widows and orphans, you ask A widow is what you get when the last line of a paragraph appears alone at the top of a page. Click the Home tab so that it is the active tab in Word. Bottom line: to get one inch margins (no extra white space gaps) on every page, you want to see widows and orphans, so you’ll have to uncheck the Widow/Orphan Control option in MS Word. You look at that lonely line up there and say, “Oh, you poor dear. How to Turn Off Widow/Orphan Control in Word. Bottom line: to get one inch margins (no extra white space gaps) on every page, you want to see widows and orphans, so you’ll have to uncheck the Widow/Orphan Control option in MS Word.Ī “widow” is what you get when the last line of a paragraph appears alone at the top of a page. Well, I’ve tracked down the problem and thought I’d share. I entered a first chapter contest last year and received a comment that mentioned how my disregard for Widows/Orphans left gaps of white space in my submission.

Widow and orphan in word 2016