By default, Microsoft Word adjusts documents to prevent widows and orphans, which are lines of text that are left alone at the beginning or end of a page. This means that Word will automatically adjust the spacing and placement of paragraphs to ensure that there are no widows or orphans in the document.
One consequence of this default setting is that the bottom margins of the document may appear to be more than one inch. This is because Word will adjust the spacing between paragraphs to prevent widows and orphans, which can result in slightly larger bottom margins.
This type of paragraph handling is very common in professional papers, such as research articles or academic essays. It helps to maintain a consistent and visually pleasing layout throughout the document. By preventing widows and orphans, the document looks more polished and professional.
It is recommended to leave this setting as is, especially if you are working on a professional document. However, if you prefer to have exactly one inch margins throughout your document, you can manually adjust the paragraph spacing.
To do this, you can go to the “Page Layout” tab in Word and click on the small arrow in the bottom right corner of the “Paragraph” section. This will open the Paragraph dialog box. In the dialog box, you can adjust the spacing before and after paragraphs to achieve the desired margin size. Keep in mind that by doing this, you may introduce widows and orphans in your document.
The reason your margins may not be exactly one inch in Word is because the software automatically adjusts the paragraph spacing to prevent widows and orphans. This is a common practice in professional papers, but if you prefer to have one inch margins, you can manually adjust the paragraph spacing.