W
wanttoknow
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gettingahead
gettingahead
garfield-n-odie said:See http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting/CantGetRidOfLine.htm .
wanttoknow wrote:
I have read "There is a line in my document that I can't delete because I can't select it. How did it get there, and what can I do about it?
.. . .garfield-n-odie said:
Your descriptions sounds like it would meet all of the symptoms. TheSuzanne S. Barnhill said:What you describe sounds like a Footnote Separator. When you force it to the
next page, you get a Footnote Continuation Separator. This indicates that
you have a footnote in the document. What I think is happening, judging
from your description, is that the text of a footnote was deleted without
deleting the (perhaps hidden) footnote reference in the text. The footnote
thus remained, albeit empty. Perhaps footnotes are set to be "Below text"
rather than at "Bottom of page," but in any case, working in Print Layout
view, you (or someone) started typing in the footnote rather than in the
document body. All the text from that point forward is now part of the
footnote instead of the body text. Naturally, as you add to the footnote, it
grows to take up page after page, each one headed with the Footnote
Continuation Separator.
This may be a little difficult to fix, but here's what I'd suggest:
1. Display all nonprinting characters (including Hidden text) using the Show
All command.
2. Display text boundaries (Tools | Options View); this will help you get a
better handle on the extent of text areas in the document.
3. Select all the text in the document that follows the original short line.
Cut or Copy (I would suggest cutting all but a line or two of the
text--leave a little to work with later.)
4. At the end of the last paragraph preceding the short line, press Enter to
create a new empty paragraph.
5. Paste the cut/copied text here.
6. This is where it's going to get tricky. Switch to Normal view and use
View | Footnotes to open the footnote pane. When you place the insertion
point in the footnote text, the footnote reference mark should be on the top
line of the document text displayed above. With luck, you should be able to
find it and delete it (even if it's formatted as Hidden, it should be
displayed since you have Hidden text displayed. If so, select it and delete
it.
7. If that doesn't work, close the footnote pane and use Edit | Go To to go
to Footnote. If there's something there, Word may be able to find it. If it
does, even if you can't see the reference mark, select a few characters on
either side of the insertion point and delete. Then retype the visible text
characters.
8. If that doesn't work, select the entire line where the footnote reference
mark must be, delete it, and retype.
9. If that doesn't work, I'm out of ideas! You'll have to see
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/AppErrors/CorruptDoc.htm
I can't select it. How did it get there, and what can I do about it?
As Dizzy Dean said, "It ain't braggin' if'n you kin do it!" and you did it.Suzanne S. Barnhill said:Ah, even more likely; someone has typed text into the Endnotes.
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