why does my old header appear if I delete through my new header/fo

[Guest]

This might be confusing, but we have a header and footer that we have used
for a couple years. I have never figured out why when we delete at the top
of the document or sometimes at the end of the documents (like when you try
to get rid of a blank second page)...the new header disappears and then our
old header (from like 4 years ago) appears.

What is wrong?

Alison

 

[Jay Freedman]

This might be confusing, but we have a header and footer that we have
used for a couple years. I have never figured out why when we delete
at the top of the document or sometimes at the end of the documents
(like when you try to get rid of a blank second page)...the new
header disappears and then our old header (from like 4 years ago)
appears.

What is wrong?

Alison

This is just a flying guess...

Somebody 'way back when' couldn't figure out how to change the header, so
they inserted a text box anchored in the text paragraph, filled it with
white fill, positioned it in the header area so it covered the old header,
and put the new header in it.

When you type new information into the document, the text box may be
anchored to the first paragraph or to the last paragraph, depending on where
you started typing. If you delete the paragraph containing the anchor, the
text box is deleted with it, uncovering the old header.

Try clicking in the new header. If you can position the cursor there with a
single click instead of a double click, and if the box around the header is
shaded instead of dashed, try positioning the cursor on an edge of the box
and dragging it. You might find the old header hiding behind it. If so, cut
the contents of the text box (not the box itself) to the clipboard; delete
the text box; double-click in the header and delete the old header, and
paste in the new one.

If I'm right, this is a classic illustration of how things go wrong when
users don't understand how the pieces of a document fit together. Read
http://sbarnhill.mvps.org/WordFAQs/Letterhead.htm to see how it should be
done.

Also, it sounds like you've been making copies of an old document to start
from, instead of using a template and the File > New dialog. Read
http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/CreateATemplatePart1.htm for
enlightenment.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
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[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Other possible issues could involve section breaks (where deleting a break
could result in a different heading surfacing), as well as enabling
"Different first page" or "Different odd and even" and thus revealing old
headers previously concealed but stored in the document.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.