Formatting Issues

How to Remove Extra Space Before a Footnote Separator in Word

Rana Garcia Oct 19, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user needs to eliminate unwanted blank space that appears immediately above a footnote separator at the bottom of a document page.

How to Remove Extra Space Before a Footnote Separator in Microsoft Word

Product: Microsoft Word
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Formatting a document with footnotes where the layout leaves an unusually large, un-deletable gap between the body text and the footnote separator.
Observed behavior: An extra block of space appears above the footnote separator, often caused by paragraph pagination settings pushing text to the following page.

Before you start

Navigate to the Home tab and click the 'Show/Hide ¶' icon to reveal hidden formatting marks, which will help you identify paragraph breaks and page breaks affecting your layout.

Solution 1Recommended

Adjust Paragraph Pagination Settings

Modify text flow settings like Widow/Orphan control and Keep with next to stop Word from prematurely pushing text to the next page.

Microsoft Word calculates page height dynamically. When features like Widow/Orphan control are enabled, Word automatically moves lines of text to the next page to avoid leaving single lines stranded. This text relocation is the most common cause of the unexpected blank space left behind above the footnote separator.

Select the affected paragraph

Highlight the paragraph immediately preceding the footnote gap, or the paragraph that was unexpectedly pushed to the top of the next page.

Open Paragraph Settings

Right-click the highlighted text and select 'Paragraph' from the context menu, or click the small dialog box launcher in the bottom right corner of the Paragraph group on the Home tab.

Modify Line and Page Breaks

Switch to the 'Line and Page Breaks' tab within the Paragraph dialog box.

Disable pagination controls

Uncheck the boxes for 'Widow/Orphan control', 'Keep with next', and 'Keep lines together'. Click 'OK' to apply the changes and observe if the text fills the gap above the footnote separator.

Pagination Warning: Disabling these settings will close the gap, but it may result in single lines of a paragraph appearing isolated at the top or bottom of your printed pages.

Solution 2

Check Line and Paragraph Spacing

Ensure that excessive spacing applied before or after paragraphs isn't artificially expanding the area above the footnote.

Professional Word Processing

Format Footnotes and Pagination Easily with WPS Writer

WPS Office provides highly intuitive paragraph and pagination controls, allowing you to fine-tune your document's layout without dealing with unexpected gaps or stubborn footnote spacing issues.

1. Open your document: Launch WPS Writer and open the document experiencing footnote spacing issues.
2. Select the text: Highlight the paragraph just before the footnote separator.
3. Adjust Pagination settings: Right-click and select 'Paragraph'. Go to the 'Line and Page Breaks' tab and uncheck 'Widow/Orphan control' and 'Keep with next'.
4. Apply changes: Click 'OK'. WPS Writer will instantly adjust the text flow, closing the gap above your footnote.

Fully compatible with Microsoft Word documents (.docx)Intuitive paragraph spacing and pagination settingsProfessional footnote and endnote managementFree, lightweight, and fast document processing

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does a large, un-deletable gap appear above my footnote separator?

This usually happens because Microsoft Word's pagination settings (like 'Keep with next' or 'Widow/Orphan control') have pushed the subsequent paragraph to the next page. Since Word cannot break the paragraph at the bottom of the current page, it leaves a blank space above the footnote instead.

Can I manually delete the space before the footnote separator?

You generally cannot delete this space using the Backspace or Delete keys because it is not an actual empty line or paragraph break. It is empty space generated by Word's layout engine to satisfy paragraph pagination rules.

What does Widow/Orphan control do in Word?

Widow/Orphan control is a setting that prevents Word from printing the last line of a paragraph by itself at the top of a page (a widow) or the first line by itself at the bottom of a page (an orphan). To prevent this, Word moves the entire paragraph to the next page, often leaving a gap at the bottom of the previous page.

Does line spacing affect where the footnote separator is placed?

Yes. Large line spacing or significant 'Spacing After' values applied to the very last paragraph on the page can push the footnote separator further down, creating the illusion of extra padding. Setting paragraph spacing to zero can often resolve this.

Document & File Issues