Cursor Stuck and/or Extra Spaces When Typing (Add-in)

There may be times when you are typing in your PERRLA for Word paper (or any other Word document), and your cursor doesn't seem to move correctly with the words you type. You may also notice extra spaces between the words you're typing, or the words may appear on a different line altogether.

On the surface, this likely seems like a huge issue, but there's a simple explanation and an even simpler solution.

The "simple explanation" is that your cursor is stuck next to a section break in your paper.

When PERRLA creates your reference page, it does so by placing a section break at the end of the body of the paper. This creates a section for the reference page that is separate from the body of the paper. Your cursor is simply stuck next to that section break. Unfortunately, this is a weird quirk of Word that has plagued Word users for years.

The "even simpler solution" is as follows:

1. Place your cursor immediately after the period of your last sentence.
2. Hit the ENTER button on your keyboard twice.
3. Click immediately after the period of the last sentence again to move your cursor back.

You should then be able to type normally.

If the problem does persist, though, keep reading below.

You may need to turn on formatting marks in Word. That way, you can see the section break and other formatting in the paper, so you have something visual to work with when trying to remedy the problem.

To turn formatting marks on in Word, go to Word's Home ribbon tab. Click the paragraph symbol button. (See image below.)

You should now see the section break within the paper. (See image below.)

Place your cursor after the period in the last sentence and hit ENTER twice. You should now see a paragraph symbol after that last period and another one to the immediate left of the section break. (See image below.)

Now, click to the right of that period in the last sentence to place your cursor and continue typing without a problem.