Somewhere you have a prompt code that is causing this and these are hidden because MSW does not have a "reveal codes" like WP. However, I think, but am not sure, there is a prompt one can use in MSW and it is Shift F8 that allows one to see the prompts inside the document.

When things like you describe are happening, it is usually because there is some orphan prompt that is causing the problem. The only way I know to get rid of it is to find it "inside" the document that is being disrupted by it and remove it.

MSW has many auto prompts that cause this. Good luck. Hope this helps.

All of the problems I have had with MSW have been from orphan prompts hidden in the documents. One of the worst is "widow orphan" code because for legal documents there are 28 lines on the legal pleading paper in Calif and this code can move your typing down to the next page and not allow you to use the slashes // for the 28th line as required in legal documents when that line needs to be blank because the paragraph ended on line 27. Drives me nuts in documents others using MSW send me to use.

Good luck.

I'm not sure about your version of Word, but just go to the end of the page BEFORE you want numbering to start and create a "Page Break." This essentially treats your document as two co-joined docs. Then insert page numbers in the section after the break. It will treat the first page of this section as page one. I'm pasting a Mac tutorial below. May not be your exact version, but you can figure it out from here.

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/add-different-page-numbers-or-number-formats-to-different-sections-in-word-for-mac-35e1d683-40e7-4b6a-b0a3-79893d6485de

That's the same thing. It should work.

I switched to Apple Pages and Google Docs because of situations just like this.

The solution turned out to be embarrassingly easy. I needed to insert "continuous section breaks" instead of mere "section breaks."

Thanks for trying to help.

I'd insert footer, and change each page with the right page number. Sometimes I just can't get Word for Mac to understand me, and I don't have an old version. It acts like it can read my mind, but it can't.

MSW was designed to be helpful and some times it ends up to be frustrating as hell because it TELLS you what to do and you cannot make it stop!

By coincidence, I was just messing around and accidentally fixed it by picking "continuous section breaks" instead of just "section breaks."

But I am going to save your link for the future. Thanks again,

Nothing is more frustrating that working with a document that has a will of its own!