I cannot type single line format in a document. Word has taken o

[gushtegav]

While typing a legal document I was using a three line separation between the
end of a paragraph and the succeeding "header". After a while, word began to
insert a three-line break between each paragraph irrespective of insertion of
a header.

At this point I cannot reset the line spacing to single line. I enter
single line in the format/paragraph area, but the space between lines in the
document continues to be double at the least. Also, a tiny black square now
appears at the left margin of each line. I don't know what I did to bring up
this black square, but I cannot delete it and I think it has something to do
with my inability to control the line spacing.

I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has experienced similar problems
and can help me regain control of my document. I am using Word 2003.
Thank you

 

[Stefan Blom]

In Format | Paragraph, if you don't want any extra spacing between
paragraphs, make sure both Spacing Before and Spacing After are set to zero.

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

....and the black square means that one of the following options in Format -
Paragraph - Line and Page Breaks is enabled:

Keep with next

Keep lines together

Page break before

Suppress line numbers

The black square is just an indicator to let you know why something might
not behave in the the way you expect it to. As it turns out, the black
square tends to be more puzzling than illuminating for most users. But, it's
there to let you know that one of these four options is enabled.

HTH...

 

[Stefan Blom]

Herb as explained the black squares. For more on nonprinting characters,
which can be toggled with Ctrl+Shift+8, see
http://word.mvps.org/faqs/formatting/NonPrintChars.htm.