Word+Keep+With+Next+vs+Keep+Lines+Together

If you have ever found yourself wading through the paragraph settings for a Word document then you have probably come across these two choices on the **Line and Page Breaks tab of the Paragraph dialog box**.
 * Word Keep With Next vs Keep Lines Together **



(Use the dialog launcher located in the bottom right corner of the **Paragraph** group on the **Home** tab to access this dialog box.)

The question is what do they mean and which do you want to use, if any? Obviously we will start with the meaning so that you can make an informed choice when it comes to actually using one of them.

“Keep with next” is used to prevent Word from inserting automatic page breaks between paragraphs.

In contrast, “Keep lines together” will prevent Word from inserting an automatic page break within a paragraph. If you end up trying to create these effects manually by inserting extra blank lines or page breaks. The problem comes in when they try to edit the document.

All those blank lines are pushed around causing weird gaps at the top or bottom of pages, and the manual page breaks will do the same thing. You will have to spend extra time removing or adding blank lines and page breaks every time you edit the document.

The question to ask yourself when deciding which one to use is :- “What exactly am I trying to prevent from being split onto 2 different pages?” If it is separate paragraphs then choose:- “Keep with next”. If it is the lines of a single paragraph then use:- “Keep lines together”. Once you have decided what type of setting you need begin by **selecting the paragraphs** to be affected.

Use the dialog launcher to get to the Paragraph dialog box. Voila!
 * Make your selection** and click **OK**.

Word will help you to achieve the look you want by preventing page breaks between lines or paragraphs that truly belong together, no matter how much editing you do these things will not be separated.