Header Appears to Take Up Entire Page

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 6.0, 6.0a

SYMPTOMS

Text in the header of your document appears to overprint the text of the document, as if it were a watermark.

CAUSE

This problem occurs when you choose Header and Footer from the View menu and use the vertical ruler to drag the bottom margin of the header to the top margin of the header. This method of changing the bottom margin of the header can incorrectly cause the header to expand to the footer and give the top margin of the document a negative value.

Depending on the size of the header before dragging the bottom margin, you may have to drag the bottom margin more than once before the behavior results.

The first time you drag the bottom margin of the header to the top of the header, the top margin of your document is adjusted to a small value, such as .38 inch. The second time, the top margin of your document is adjusted to a negative number, such as -.08 inch. Because the top margin is very small, this makes the top margin into an absolute margin.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Word 6.0 and 6.0a for Windows. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

WORKAROUND

If you have unintentionally expanded your header, you can readjust the page size for your document by choosing Page Setup from the File Menu, and resetting the top margin to a positive number (such as 1 inch).