Google Docs Page Break: Page, Section and Paragraph Breaks

Here's the catch. Google Docs has two formats, pages and pageless, and breaks, headers, footers, page numbers and most page settings only exist in pages format. Switch a document to pageless and the headers and footers it already had disappear from view. If a page break option has gone missing, or your breaks seem to have vanished, the format is almost always why.

The three kinds of break in Google Docs

Break	What it does	Where to find it
Page break	Starts the content on a new page	Insert, Break, Page break
Section break (next page)	Starts a new section on a new page	Insert, Break, Section break (next page)
Section break (continuous)	Starts a new section on the same page	Insert, Break, Section break (continuous)
Page break before	Always pushes a chosen paragraph onto a new page	Format, Line & paragraph spacing, Add page break before

How to insert a page or section break

1. Open your Google Doc and check it's in pages format.
2. Select the point in your content where the break should go.
3. At the top, click Insert, then Break.
4. Click Page break to start on a new page, or Section break (next page or continuous) to start a new section.

The difference matters. A page break only moves content down. A section break lets you treat parts of the document differently: you can change the margins or page numbers of different sections, which is how one document can hold a title page, a numbered body and a wider appendix.

Keep a heading at the top of a new page

This is the break most people don't know about, and it's the tidiest. Instead of dropping a page break above a heading, you tell the heading itself to start a new page.

1. Select the whole paragraph or heading, or click anywhere inside it.
2. In the toolbar, open Line & paragraph spacing and choose Add page break before. Or at the top, go to Format, Line & paragraph spacing, then Add page break before.

Google's own tip is to use exactly this for headings you want at the top of a new page. Now when the text above grows or shrinks, the heading still starts a fresh page.

Pages or pageless: what each format gives you

Feature	Pages format	Pageless format
Page and section breaks	Yes	Not available
Headers and footers	Yes	Not shown, even if the doc already had them
Page numbers and page count	Yes	Not available
Footnotes	At the foot of the page	All together at the end of the document
Page setup	Orientation, paper size, margins, page colour	Background colour only

To change format, go to File, then Page setup, and at the top of the dialog window select Pages. While you're there you can set orientation, paper size, margins and page colour, then click OK. Click Set as default if you want every new document you create to start with those settings.

Section breaks for margins, numbers and orientation

Once a document has sections, you can set margins per section. Click File, then Page setup, choose at the top which sections to change, set the margins and click OK. Inside a single section, you can also select text, graphics or images and drag the triangle on the ruler to where you want the margin. For more on that, here's how to change margins in Google Docs.

Sections also let a single document mix portrait and wide layouts, which Google suggests for wider tables, charts and graphics. You can change the orientation of a selection, or of one or more sections. Headers and footers can differ by section too, with their own margins set under Format, Headers & footers, More options, where Apply to lets you pick a section or the whole document. Setting a header or footer margin to 0 removes that space.

Page numbers follow the same logic. Under Insert, Page elements, Page number, More options lets you apply numbers to specific pages or sections, or start numbering from a particular page. Here's my step-by-step on adding page numbers in Google Docs.

Headers, footers and footnotes around your breaks

To add	Go to
A header or footer	Insert, Page elements, then Header or Footer
Page numbers	Insert, Page elements, Page number, then Page number
A total page count	Insert, Page elements, Page number, then Page count, which goes wherever your cursor is
A footnote	Click where it belongs, then Insert, Page elements, Footnote

To remove a header or footer from a section, double-click it, then on the right click Options and choose Remove header or Remove footer. Once you've chosen where they go, page numbers or the page count are added automatically.

My verdict on Google Docs page breaks

I'd use Add page break before on every chapter or section heading, because it keeps working however much you edit, and save plain page breaks for the odd one-off. Use a section break when part of the document needs different margins, numbering or orientation. Skip breaks altogether if the doc will only ever be read on screen: pageless format is cleaner for that, and you won't miss headers and page numbers that nobody prints.

Frequently asked questions

How do I insert a page break in Google Docs?

Click where you want the new page to start, then go to Insert, Break, Page break. The document must be in pages format.

Why can't I add a page break in Google Docs?

Page and section breaks aren't available in documents in pageless format. Switch to pages format in File, Page setup.

What's the difference between a page break and a section break?

A page break starts the content on a new page. A section break starts a new section, on the next page or on the same page, and lets you change the margins or page numbers of different sections.

How do I make a heading always start on a new page in Google Docs?

Select the heading, then go to Format, Line & paragraph spacing, Add page break before.

What happens to footnotes in pageless format?

If your document is in pageless format, footnotes all appear together at the end of the document.