Using Word’s Section Breaks and Page Breaks

To find the menu, go to the Layout ribbon and click on Breaks within the Page Setup grouping

Section Breaks are used when you want to start a different layout on the current or next page.  Inserting a section break maintains the formatting before the break and allows you to start new formatting from that point on.  You might change margins, page orientation, or page numbering from Roman numerals to Arabic numbers.  Or you could need to add a page border, add columns, or change headers and footers.  The most common choices are Next Page which ends the current page where inserted and starts the next section on the new page and Continuous which starts the next section on the same page where inserted.

Page Breaks are used when you need to start a new page before you are at the end of the current page or when using columns and you need to jump to the next column before reaching the end.  These breaks are known as Page and Column.  They maintain the formatting as you go.  You might use this for title pages that are centered to the page or when you are close to the end of a page but want to start your next paragraph on the next page.

When viewing format marks, the breaks will display what they are as in the example below.