How to Change One Page to Landscape Word: A Simple Guide to Formatting Your Microsoft Word Document

If you need to change just one page in your Word document to landscape orientation while keeping the rest in portrait, here’s how you can do it:

1. Place your cursor at the beginning of the page you want to turn to landscape.
2. Go to the “Layout” or “Page Layout” tab (depending on your Word version).
3. Click on “Breaks” > “Next Page” under the Section Breaks group. This creates a new section.
4. Scroll to the end of the page you want in landscape and insert another “Next Page” section break.
5. Click anywhere inside the new section (the page to be landscape).
6. Go to “Layout” > “Orientation” > “Landscape”.
7. Only the selected section (the page) will now be in landscape mode. The other pages will remain in portrait.

If you are often working on floor plans, layouts, or documents where page orientation is crucial for displaying visual elements, as a designer I recommend leveraging digital tools to experiment with layouts before committing to print. For example, an advanced 2D floor planner can help you intuitively test how your content will appear in various orientations, maximizing both aesthetics and functionality for your presentations and project documentation.

Tips 1:

If you want to apply special margins, headers, or footers to the landscape page, double-check your section settings. Word treats each section as an independent layout area, allowing customization per section.

FAQ

Q: Can I convert multiple non-consecutive pages to landscape in Word?

A: Yes, but you’ll need to repeat the section break and orientation steps for each page you want in landscape. Q: Will my headers and footers carry over when I use different orientations?

A: By default, Word connects headers and footers across sections. You can break this link by clicking “Link to Previous” to customize them per orientation. Q: Why is the orientation change affecting more pages than intended?

A: Review your section breaks. Orientation changes apply to entire sections; ensure breaks are inserted correctly around the target page. Q: What’s the difference between using a page break and a section break?

A: A page break only controls where a new page begins, not page layout. Section breaks split the document to allow different formats, such as orientation or margins. Q: How can I check where my section breaks are in Word?

A: Go to the “Home” tab, click “Show/Hide ¶” to reveal all formatting marks, including section breaks, for easier editing.