Controlling Widows and Orphans

In typographical terminology, widows and orphans are closely related (no pun intended). These terms refer to one (and sometimes two) lines of a paragraph left by itself on a page. A widow is the last line of a paragraph left by itself at the top of a page; an orphan is the first line of a paragraph left by itself at the bottom of a page. You will want to avoid both widows and orphans in your documents, as they break up the flow of the text and tend to distract the reader.

Word allows you to automatically control single-line widows and orphans in your documents. To control widows and orphans in your documents, follow these steps:

1. Select Paragraph from the Format menu. Word displays the Paragraph dialog box.
2. Click on the Line and Page Breaks tab. (Click here to see a related figure.)
3. Make sure the Widow/Orphan Control check box is selected.
4. Click on OK.