How to delete a page in Word: blank pages, section breaks and tables

Summary. To delete a page in Word, click anywhere on it, press Ctrl+G (Option+⌘+G on a Mac), type \page in the Enter page number box, press Enter, select Close and then press Delete. For a blank page, show paragraph marks with Ctrl+Shift+8 (⌘+8 on a Mac) and delete the empty paragraphs or manual page breaks that appear. A blank page at the very end, often after a table, is Word's required end paragraph pushed onto a new page. It cannot be deleted, so select it, type 01 in the Font size box and press Enter; if it still spills over, shrink the bottom margin, for example to 0.3 inches. Next Page, Odd Page and Even Page section breaks are the other common cause: delete the break, or change it to Continuous to keep each section's formatting. Word for the web handles empty paragraphs and page breaks, but Microsoft's pages disagree on section breaks there, so fix those in the desktop app.

About this article. For anyone fixing an unwanted page in Word, and for IT teams who maintain templates. Every step and shortcut was checked on 11 November 2026 against Microsoft Support's Word pages, which cover Word for Microsoft 365 on Windows and Mac, Word 2024, 2021, 2019 and 2016, and Word for the web; the main article was last updated on 16 October 2026. Labels can differ slightly between versions and update channels. Researched with AI assistance and reviewed by our editorial team.

Which fix do you need?

Match what you see to the likely cause. The table summarises Microsoft's articles on deleting pages, page breaks and section breaks.

How to delete a page with content (Windows and Mac)

Select the page's content and press Delete. To select exactly one page:

1. Click or tap anywhere on the page you want to delete.

1. Press Ctrl+G on Windows or Option+⌘+G on a Mac. F5 also opens Go To.

1. In the Enter page number box, type \page.

1. Press Enter, then select Close.

1. Check that the whole page is selected, then press Delete.

This works for pages of text, graphics or empty paragraphs. If the content that follows reflows oddly, undo with Ctrl+Z (⌘+Z on a Mac) and look for a section break before trying again.

How to delete a blank page in Word

Show Word's hidden formatting first: press Ctrl+Shift+8 on Windows (the 8 on the main keyboard, not the numeric keypad) or ⌘+8 on a Mac, or select Home > Show/Hide.

• Empty paragraphs. Each ¶ on a line of its own is an empty paragraph. Select them and press Delete.

• Manual page breaks. These are easy to add by accident with Ctrl+Enter (⌘+Return on a Mac), and Microsoft notes that an unexpected new page may be caused by one. On Windows, double-click the break and press Delete. On a Mac, click just after the paragraph mark in the page break, then press Delete.

• Automatic page breaks. Word adds these as text fills each page, and they cannot be removed. To control where they fall, select the paragraphs, open the Paragraph dialog (from the Layout tab, or Format > Paragraph on a Mac) and use the Line and Page Breaks tab: Widow/Orphan control, Keep with next, Keep lines together or Page break before.

Press the same shortcut again to hide the marks.

Blank last page you can't delete, and tables at the end

Every Word document ends with a paragraph mark that cannot be deleted. When the content above fills the page, that paragraph is pushed onto a new, blank page. Documents ending in a table are the usual case, because the required paragraph has to sit below the table. Microsoft calls shrinking it the most reliable fix:

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+8 (⌘+8 on a Mac) to show paragraph marks.

1. Select the final paragraph mark.

1. Click inside the Font size box, type 01 and press Enter. The 1-point paragraph now fits on the previous page.

1. Press the same shortcut to hide the marks.

If it still will not fit, reduce the bottom margin under Layout > Margins > Custom Margins, for example to 0.3 inches (about 0.76 cm), after checking that your printer can print that close to the edge.

If the paragraph mark has a small square bullet beside it, Page break before is probably switched on: right-click the paragraph, open its Paragraph settings and clear that option on the Line and Page Breaks tab. As a last resort, a Word MVP on Microsoft's Q&A forum suggests formatting that final mark as hidden text, a fix that suits people who keep formatting marks switched off.

How to remove section breaks that create blank pages

Section breaks let one document mix margins, orientation, columns or headers. Next Page breaks start the new section on the following page; Odd Page and Even Page breaks start it on the next odd- or even-numbered page. In Microsoft's example, an Odd Page break at the end of page 3 starts the next section on page 5, so page 4 comes out blank.

To delete a section break, show the marks with Home > Show/Hide (on Windows, View > Draft makes breaks easier to spot), then:

• On Windows, place the cursor just before the section break and press Delete.

• On a Mac, select the section break and press Delete.

Microsoft warns that the merged section takes the formatting of the section that followed the break. To keep the earlier headers or footers, it suggests Link to Previous instead. If deleting would wreck the layout, change the break so it no longer starts a new page:

1. Click in the section break.

1. On Windows, select the small arrow at the bottom right of the Page Setup group on the Layout tab. On a Mac, select Format > Document.

1. On the Layout tab, choose Continuous in the Section start list, then select OK.

A Continuous break keeps the sections separate without starting a new page.

How to delete a page in Word for the web

Word for the web handles the common cases in the browser:

1. Select Edit Document > Edit in Word for the web. Page breaks do not show in Reading view.

1. Select empty paragraphs and delete them.

1. Click a manual page break to select it, then press Delete or Backspace.

Microsoft's pages disagree on section breaks. Its delete-a-section-break article gives a web route: Home > Paragraph > Show/Hide, put the cursor just before the break and press Backspace. Its Word for the web blank-page article says you need the desktop app to delete or modify section breaks, and its change-a-section-break article says the web version cannot change them. If Backspace fails, open the file in desktop Word and follow the steps above. Automatic page breaks cannot be deleted in any version.

For IT teams and businesses

Recurring blank pages in company documents often start in a template. One that ends in a full-width table, or uses Odd Page section breaks for print, can put a blank page into every document and PDF made from it. Fix the template once: set the end paragraph after any closing table to 1 point, and use Continuous breaks unless the printed layout needs otherwise.

Check software-generated invoices, offer letters and contracts for trailing page breaks and oversized end paragraphs too. If they are built through Microsoft 365 APIs, our article on scoping Microsoft 365 integration work covers that side. Fix pages in the Word source rather than the exported PDF, where protection can add a hurdle (see our guide to removing a password from a PDF you own). If a file with a stray page has already gone out, check whether you can recall the email in Outlook.

Decide which app staff use for final formatting, given the web gaps above. Microsoft's help pages still list Word 2016 and Word 2019, but both reached end of support on 14 October 2025 and no longer receive security updates.

How eCorpIT can help

eCorpIT is a Gurugram-based technology organisation, founded in 2021, assessed at CMMI Level 5 and MSME certified, with senior-led engineering teams working across AWS, Microsoft and Google platforms. Our digital transformation services team helps organisations standardise Microsoft 365 templates and automate document workflows, so recurring formatting faults are fixed at the source. Talk to us at /contact-us/.

Last updated: 11 November 2026.

References

1. Delete a page or remove a blank page in Word (updated 16 October 2026) — Microsoft Support

1. Remove a page break in Word (updated 17 November 2025) — Microsoft Support

1. Delete a section break (updated 17 November 2025) — Microsoft Support

1. Change a section break (updated 16 March 2026) — Microsoft Support

1. Delete a blank page in Word for the web (updated 18 May 2026) — Microsoft Support

1. Keyboard shortcuts in Word (updated 4 March 2026) — Microsoft Support

1. Show section breaks (updated 26 March 2026) — Microsoft Support

1. Add or delete a page in Word for Mac (updated 25 February 2026) — Microsoft Support

1. Insert a page break (updated 10 November 2025) — Microsoft Support

1. Removing paragraph markers after a table in Word to remove a blank page (accepted answer by a Word MVP, 25 January 2018) — Microsoft Q&A

1. Use section breaks to change the layout or formatting in one section of your Word document (updated 27 March 2026) — Microsoft Support

1. Insert a section break (updated 20 July 2026) — Microsoft Support

1. Ending Support in 2025 — Microsoft Lifecycle, Microsoft Learn