The hidden cost of "fake" page breaks
A document padded with extra blank lines to force a new page looks fine until someone edits a paragraph above it β then every "break" shifts out of place and you're left manually re-padding the whole document. A real page break is a single, fixed marker that doesn't care how much text comes before it, which is exactly why it's worth the extra few seconds to insert one properly instead of mashing Enter.
Page breaks vs. section breaks, in plain terms
A page break only affects where content starts on the page β everything about the page itself (margins, orientation, header/footer content) stays identical to the rest of the document. A section break does everything a page break does, plus it lets that new section have its own distinct page setup. If you've ever wondered why a document's header suddenly needs to change halfway through, a section break is almost always the tool for that job.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my page break sometimes not push content to a truly new page?
This usually happens when the break was inserted in the middle of a line rather than at its very start, or when "Widow/Orphan control" and paragraph spacing settings are interacting with it. Placing the cursor at the true start of the target content usually resolves it.
Can I delete a page break I no longer need?
Yes β with formatting marks turned on, click right before the page break marker and press Delete (or Backspace right after it) to remove it, just like deleting any other character.