How to Delete a Page in Word

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You’ve finished formatting your document, hit print or exported to PDF, and there it is: an awkward blank page sitting at the end, or worse, right in the middle of your carefully formatted report. Deleting a page in Microsoft Word sounds like it should be as simple as hitting the Delete key, but Word’s page breaks, paragraph marks, and section breaks can make an unwanted blank page surprisingly stubborn to remove.

In this guide, we’ll walk through every reliable method for deleting a page in Word—whether it’s a blank page at the end of your document, an extra page in the middle, or a page full of content you want gone entirely. We’ll also cover the platform differences between Word for Windows, Word for Mac, Word Online, and the mobile app, plus pro tips, common mistakes, and troubleshooting advice for the trickiest cases.

Understanding Why Blank Pages Appear in Word

Before diving into the fix, it helps to understand why blank pages show up in the first place. The most common causes include:

Manual page breaks inserted intentionally (or accidentally) that push content onto a new page, leaving a blank one behind if content shifts later.
Extra paragraph marks (empty lines) stacked at the end of a document, which can push a blank page into existence once they exceed what fits on the current page.
Section breaks, which sometimes force a new page to start regardless of how much content precedes them.
Table formatting, since a table that ends exactly at the bottom of a page can leave an unavoidable blank paragraph mark on the following page, which Word won’t let you fully delete unless the table is adjusted.
Auto-formatting from pasted content, particularly when copying from PDFs, web pages, or other documents that carry over hidden formatting marks or breaks.

Knowing the root cause makes it much easier to pick the right removal method rather than repeatedly pressing Backspace and hoping for the best.

Method 1: Turn On Formatting Marks (Do This First)

Before attempting to delete anything, it’s worth revealing Word’s hidden formatting marks, since this shows you exactly what’s causing the extra page—whether it’s a page break, section break, or a stack of empty paragraphs.

Steps:

Go to the Home tab on the ribbon.
In the Paragraph group, click the ¶ (Show/Hide) symbol (or press Ctrl + Shift + 8 on Windows, or Cmd + 8 on Mac).
Your document will now display paragraph marks, page breaks, and section breaks as visible symbols.

With formatting marks visible, you can clearly see whether you’re dealing with a manual page break, a cluster of empty paragraphs, or something else entirely, which determines which method below will actually work.

Method 2: Delete a Blank Page at the End of a Document

This is the most common scenario, and it’s usually caused by extra paragraph marks or a page break sitting after your last line of actual content.

Steps:

Turn on formatting marks (Method 1) so you can see what’s on the blank page.
Click at the very end of your document (press Ctrl + End to jump there instantly).
Press Backspace repeatedly to delete any extra paragraph marks (¶) or page break symbols until the blank page disappears.
If a stubborn page break remains, click directly before the page break symbol, then press Delete to remove it.

If backspacing doesn’t work because the extra page is tied to a table or section break, skip ahead to the more specific methods below.

Method 3: Delete a Page in the Middle of a Document

Removing a page that’s sandwiched between other content requires slightly more precision to avoid accidentally deleting nearby text you want to keep.

Steps:

Turn on formatting marks so you can clearly identify where the page starts and ends.
Click anywhere on the blank or unwanted page to place your cursor there.
Go to the Home tab, then in the Editing group, click Find, and select Go To (or press Ctrl + G).
In the Go To dialog box, select Page, type the page number of the page you want to delete, and click Go To.
This selects the entire page. Press Delete on your keyboard.
If any residual blank paragraph or page break symbol remains, position your cursor there and press Backspace or Delete to clean it up.

This method is particularly useful for longer documents where manually scrolling and selecting content precisely would be tedious and error-prone.

Method 4: Delete a Page Using the Navigation Pane

Word’s Navigation Pane offers a visual thumbnail view of every page, which makes it easy to jump directly to the page you want to remove and select its contents.

Steps:

Go to the View tab on the ribbon.
Check the box for Navigation Pane (it will open on the left side of your screen).
Click the Pages tab within the Navigation Pane to see thumbnail previews of every page in your document.
Click the thumbnail of the page you want to delete to jump directly to it in the main document view.
Select all content on that page (click at the start, then Shift-click at the end, or use Ctrl + A if the entire document is just that one page).
Press Delete, then check for any leftover page break or paragraph marks and remove those as well.

Method 5: Delete a Blank Page Caused by a Table

Tables are one of the trickiest sources of unwanted blank pages, since Word automatically adds a paragraph mark after every table, and that mark cannot always be deleted normally if the table ends exactly at the bottom margin of a page.

Steps:

Click on the paragraph mark immediately after the table (visible once formatting marks are turned on).
Try reducing the font size of that specific paragraph mark significantly (for example, down to 1 point) using the font size box on the Home tab. This often shrinks the blank space enough to eliminate the extra page without deleting the mark entirely, which Word requires to exist after a table.
Alternatively, if the table itself is slightly too large for the page, try reducing your top or bottom margins slightly, or reducing row height within the table, so it no longer pushes into a new page.

Method 6: Delete a Page Caused by a Section Break

Section breaks can behave differently from simple page breaks and sometimes resist normal deletion methods.

Steps:

Turn on formatting marks to locate the section break (it will appear as a dotted double line labeled “Section Break”).
Click immediately before the section break symbol.
Press Delete to remove it.
Check your document’s formatting afterward, since removing a section break can sometimes cause formatting from the following section (like different margins, headers, or column layouts) to shift and apply to the preceding content unexpectedly. If this happens, use Ctrl + Z to undo and try a different approach, such as adjusting formatting before removing the break.

Platform Variations: Windows vs. Mac vs. Web vs. Mobile

Word for Windows

All the methods above apply directly to Word for Windows, which offers the most complete toolset for locating and removing pages, including the full Navigation Pane and Go To dialog functionality.

Word for Mac

Word for Mac supports the same core methods, with a few keyboard shortcut differences: use Cmd + 8 instead of Ctrl + Shift + 8 to toggle formatting marks, and Cmd + Fn + Left/Right Arrow in place of Ctrl + Home/End for jumping to the start or end of a document. The Navigation Pane and Go To dialog are both available under the same View and Home tab locations as on Windows.

Word Online (Browser Version)

Word Online offers a simplified toolset compared to the desktop apps. Formatting marks can still be toggled through the Home tab, and you can generally delete blank pages using the same Backspace/Delete approach at the end of a document. However, some more advanced features, like the full Navigation Pane’s page thumbnail view, may be limited or absent depending on your browser and Microsoft 365 subscription tier. For complex mid-document page removal involving tables or section breaks, it’s often easier to open the file in the desktop app if you have access to one.

Word Mobile App (iOS and Android)

The mobile app supports basic page and content deletion, but navigating precisely to a specific page and selecting all its content is more cumbersome on a smaller touchscreen. For anything beyond removing a simple blank page at the end of a short document, switching to a desktop or laptop is generally faster and less error-prone.

Tips

Avoid stacking multiple Enter key presses to create spacing. Instead of pressing Enter several times to push content onto a new page, use an actual page break (Insert > Page Break, or Ctrl + Enter) or adjust paragraph spacing settings, which are far less likely to leave stray blank pages behind later when content shifts.
Check formatting marks regularly while editing longer documents.
Be cautious when pasting content from other sources. Content copied from PDFs, web pages, or other Word documents often carries hidden formatting, including page and section breaks. Use Paste Special > Unformatted Text (or the equivalent “Keep Text Only” paste option) when you want to avoid importing unwanted formatting along with your content.
Adjust table properties instead of fighting the trailing paragraph mark. If a table is consistently causing a stubborn blank page, check whether reducing row height, cell padding, or font size within the table resolves the issue at the source rather than trying to work around the mandatory paragraph mark that follows every table.
Use Print Preview before finalizing a document. Reviewing your document in Print Preview (or checking the Backstage view under File > Print) shows you exactly how many pages will print, which is often where hidden blank pages become obvious before you distribute or print the file.
Save a backup copy before major structural edits. If you’re removing multiple pages or section breaks in a long, complex document, saving a backup first means you can safely undo any unexpected formatting cascades without losing your work.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Deleting content without checking whether it’s tied to a table’s mandatory trailing paragraph mark. Repeatedly pressing Backspace on this specific mark won’t remove it entirely—it needs to be shrunk or the table itself adjusted instead.
Removing a section break without expecting formatting changes. Section breaks often carry different margin, header, footer, or column settings between sections; deleting one can cause unexpected formatting shifts in the surrounding content.
Assuming Ctrl + End will always take you to the true end of the document. If there are trailing empty paragraphs or breaks after your visible content, this shortcut will land you past your last “real” content, which is actually useful for identifying what needs to be cleaned up.
Working blind without formatting marks turned on. Without seeing paragraph marks, page breaks, and section breaks, it’s very easy to delete the wrong thing or miss the actual cause of an unwanted blank page.
Deleting an entire page’s content without checking for a page break above it. Removing text alone sometimes isn’t enough if a manual page break is still forcing a new page to start; the break itself often needs to be removed separately.

Troubleshooting: When a Blank Page Won’t Go Away

“I’ve deleted everything on the page but it’s still there.” Turn on formatting marks and check for a lingering page break or section break symbol at the top of the blank page—these often remain even after all visible text and paragraph marks have been removed.
“The blank page keeps coming back after I delete it.” This can happen if AutoCorrect or a template style is automatically reinserting a break, or if a table elsewhere in the document is still pushing content onto an extra page. Double-check nearby tables and any styles applied to the surrounding paragraphs.
“I can’t select the blank page in the Navigation Pane.” If the Navigation Pane’s Pages tab doesn’t show individual thumbnails as expected, try clicking directly within the document body at the location of the blank page instead, then use Ctrl + G (Go To) to jump precisely to that page number.
“There’s a blank page after a table and I can’t get rid of it.” This is expected Word behavior—Word requires a paragraph mark after every table and won’t allow you to delete it entirely. Instead, shrink the font size of that specific paragraph mark to reduce the space it takes up, or adjust the table’s size and margins so it no longer pushes into the next page.
“My document looks fine on screen but still shows an extra page when I print or export to PDF.” Check File > Print or the Print Preview pane to see exactly how many pages will output, since some minor formatting elements only become visible in this view. Also check your printer or PDF export margin settings, since these can occasionally differ slightly from your on-screen document margins.

Conclusion

Deleting a page in Word is usually a quick fix once you understand what’s actually causing it—whether that’s a stray page break, a cluster of extra paragraph marks, a stubborn section break, or a table’s mandatory trailing paragraph. Turning on formatting marks before you start is the single most useful step in this entire process, since it turns a frustrating guessing game into a clear, visible fix.

Whether you’re cleaning up a blank page at the very end of a document, removing an unwanted page buried in the middle, or working around a table that refuses to let go of its trailing space, the methods in this guide cover the vast majority of real-world scenarios you’ll run into across Word for Windows, Mac, Word Online, and mobile.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Why can’t I just press Delete to remove a blank page in Word?

Blank pages are usually caused by page breaks, section breaks, or stacked paragraph marks rather than being a standalone deletable object. You need to select and remove the specific formatting element causing the page, which is why turning on formatting marks first is so important.

2. How do I show formatting marks in Word?

Go to the Home tab and click the ¶ (Show/Hide) button in the Paragraph group, or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + 8 on Windows or Cmd + 8 on Mac.

3. Why does a blank page keep appearing after my table?

Word automatically inserts a mandatory paragraph mark after every table, which cannot be deleted entirely. If this mark falls right at the bottom of a page, it forces an extra blank page. Reducing that paragraph mark’s font size, or adjusting the table’s dimensions, is usually the fix.

4. Can I delete a page in the middle of a document without affecting the rest of the content?

Yes. Use Ctrl + G (Go To), select Page, enter the page number, and click Go To to select that page’s content precisely, then press Delete, followed by cleaning up any remaining page break or paragraph marks.

5. Does deleting a section break affect my document’s formatting?

It can. Section breaks often carry distinct formatting like margins, headers, footers, or column layouts. Removing one can cause the surrounding content to inherit formatting from the adjacent section unexpectedly, so it’s worth reviewing your document carefully afterward.

6. Is deleting a page different in Word Online compared to the desktop app?

The core process is similar, but Word Online offers a more limited toolset overall, and some advanced navigation features like the full page-thumbnail Navigation Pane may not be available depending on your browser and subscription. For complex cases, using the desktop app is generally easier.

7. Why does my document look fine on screen but still print an extra blank page?

Some formatting elements are more visible in Print Preview than in the regular editing view. Check File > Print to confirm the actual page count, and review your printer or PDF export margin settings, which can occasionally differ from your on-screen document.

8. Can I use Find and Replace to remove extra blank pages automatically?

To some extent, yes. You can search for manual page break characters (^m) in the Find and Replace dialog (accessed with Ctrl + H) and replace them with nothing to remove multiple page breaks at once, though this should be done carefully and reviewed afterward, since it will affect every page break in the document, not just unwanted ones.

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