How to Delete a Blank Page in Word

Applies to: Microsoft Word (Microsoft 365, Word 2021, Word 2019, Word 2016), Word for Mac, Word for the web
Article Type: How-To
Last Updated: 2026-07-29

Summary

A blank page in Word is never actually blank — something invisible is holding it open. This article shows you how to reveal that hidden character, identify which of the three causes you have, and delete it, including the final page that refuses to go away.

Prerequisites

• Microsoft Word on Windows or Mac. Formatting marks are not shown in Word for the web, so the fixes below need the desktop app.
• Edit access to the document. If it opens with a Read-Only banner across the top, click Enable Editing first.
• No admin rights required.

Instructions

1. Turn On Formatting Marks So You Can See the Cause

Pressing Backspace does nothing because you cannot see what you are deleting. Fix that first — every step below depends on it.

1. Open the document and click the Home tab.
2. In the Paragraph group, click the ¶ button. Hovering over it shows the tooltip Show/Hide ¶.
3. Press Ctrl + Shift + 8 instead if you prefer the keyboard. On a Mac, press ⌘ + 8.
4. Faint blue-grey marks appear throughout the document: ¶ at the end of every paragraph, a raised dot for every space, and an arrow for every tab.
5. Scroll to the blank page and look at what is on it.

What you are looking for: One or more lone ¶ marks means extra empty paragraphs. A dotted horizontal line reading Page Break means a manual break. A double dotted line reading Section Break (Next Page) means a section break. Each has its own fix below.

Note: Word for the web does not display formatting marks. Open the file in the desktop app — in current builds the Open in Desktop App button sits on the View tab; in older builds it is under the Editing menu at the top right of the ribbon.

2. Delete an Extra Empty Paragraph Mark

This is the most common cause. Someone pressed Enter a few times too many, and the overflow paragraphs pushed onto a new page.

1. Click at the very end of the last line of real text on the page before the blank one. The cursor blinks immediately after the final character.
2. Press Delete (not Backspace) once. The nearest ¶ disappears and the text below moves up.
3. Keep pressing Delete until every stray ¶ is gone and the blank page closes.
4. Alternatively, click immediately before the first ¶ on the blank page, hold Shift, and press Ctrl + End to select everything to the end of the document. Press Delete once.

Verification: Look at the status bar at the bottom-left of the Word window. The page count drops, for example from Page 3 of 4 to Page 3 of 3.

3. Delete a Manual Page Break

A manual page break appears as a dotted horizontal line with the words Page Break centred on it.

1. Click in the left margin directly beside the dotted line. The whole break line highlights.
2. Press Delete. The dotted line disappears and the text below flows back onto the previous page.
3. If clicking the margin selects a paragraph of text instead, click immediately in front of the dotted line and press Delete once.

To clear every manual page break in a long document at once:

1. Press Ctrl + H to open the Find and Replace dialog on the Replace tab.
2. Click More >> at the bottom-left to expand the dialog.
3. Click Special at the bottom, then choose Manual Page Break. The characters ^m appear in the Find what box.
4. Leave Replace with completely empty.
5. Click Replace All. A message reports how many replacements were made.

Tip: Automatic page breaks — the ones Word inserts when a page fills up — have no dotted line and no label. You cannot delete those, and you do not need to.

4. Delete a Section Break

A section break shows as a double dotted line labelled Section Break (Next Page), Section Break (Continuous), or Section Break (Odd Page).

1. Click immediately in front of the double dotted line so the cursor sits at the start of that line.
2. Press Delete. The break disappears.
3. Check the pages above the deleted break. If margins, orientation, or headers changed, press Ctrl + Z to undo and use the safer method below.

Change the break instead of deleting it when the layout above matters:

1. Click anywhere in the section after the break.
2. Click the Layout tab, then click the small arrow in the bottom-right corner of the Page Setup group. The Page Setup dialog opens.
3. Click the Layout tab inside the dialog.
4. Set Section start to Continuous.
5. Click OK. The section keeps its own settings but no longer forces a new page.

Note: Headers, footers, and page numbering are stored per section, so section breaks are usually there on purpose. Before deleting one, check How to Add Page Numbers, Headers, and Footers in Word to see what the break is holding together.

Note: Margins, paper size, and page orientation are stored per section too. A break sitting on its own next to a rotated page is holding that rotation in place — How to Change Margins and Page Orientation in Word shows what it is doing before you remove it.

5. Remove a Final Blank Page That Will Not Delete

Word requires one paragraph mark at the very end of every document and will not let you delete it. When that mark lands on a page of its own, no amount of Backspace helps. Shrink it instead.

1. Click on the empty last line of the document so the cursor sits beside the final ¶.
2. Click the Home tab, click inside the Font Size box in the Font group, type 1, and press Enter. The mark shrinks.
3. In the Paragraph group, click the small arrow in the bottom-right corner to open the Paragraph dialog.
4. Set Line spacing to Exactly and set the At box to 1 pt.
5. Set Spacing > After to 0 pt.
6. Click OK. The final mark now fits on the previous page and the blank page closes.

Note: The Spacing boxes above the Line spacing dropdown in this dialog control the gap between every other paragraph in the document, which is a different problem with the same cure — see How to Change Line Spacing in Word.

If the page still holds, hide the mark completely:

1. Click on the empty last line again.
2. Press Ctrl + D to open the Font dialog.
3. Under Effects, select the Hidden checkbox.
4. Click OK.
5. Press Ctrl + Shift + 8 to turn formatting marks off. Hidden text stays visible while marks are on, so the page only vanishes once you switch them off.

Verification: Press Ctrl + P to open the print preview. The preview reads 1 of 3 rather than 1 of 4, which confirms the blank page will not print.

6. Fix a Blank Page Caused by a Table

When a table ends at the exact bottom of a page, the empty paragraph Word forces after every table has nowhere to go and spills onto a new page. You cannot delete that paragraph, but you can shrink it.

1. Turn on formatting marks if they are off (Ctrl + Shift + 8).
2. Click the lone ¶ on the blank page, directly after the table.
3. Apply Step 5 to it: font size 1, then Line spacing set to Exactly at 1 pt.
4. If the page persists, set that paragraph to Hidden using the Font dialog (Ctrl + D).

A tall table row jumping to a new page and leaving white space behind is a different problem:

1. Right-click anywhere inside the table and choose Table Properties.
2. Click the Row tab.
3. Select the Allow row to break across pages checkbox.
4. Click OK. The row now splits across the page boundary instead of moving whole.

Tip: Trimming the table itself often removes the need for either fix. See How to Insert and Format Tables in Word for row height and cell margin controls.

7. Confirm the Page Is Gone

Scrolling is a poor way to check a long document. Use the thumbnails.

1. Click the View tab.
2. In the Show group, select the Navigation Pane checkbox. A pane opens down the left side of the window.
3. Click Pages at the top of the pane. Every page appears as a numbered thumbnail.
4. Scan the thumbnails — a blank page is unmistakable at that size.
5. Check the page count in the status bar at the bottom-left, for example Page 1 of 3.

Tip: Ctrl + F opens the same Navigation pane on the Results tab. Click Pages to switch to thumbnails.

Troubleshooting

WARNING

Deleting a section break merges two sections, and the text before the break inherits the page setup of the section after it — margins, orientation, headers, and page numbering can all change at once. Press Ctrl + Z immediately if that happens, then use the Continuous method in Step 4 instead.

Symptom / Error	Potential Cause	Solution
Backspace does nothing on the blank page	Cursor is on the wrong side of a break	Place the cursor immediately in front of the break and press Delete rather than Backspace (Steps 3 and 4).
The last page will not delete no matter what	Word's mandatory final paragraph mark	Shrink it to 1 pt or set it to Hidden using Step 5. It cannot be deleted, only made small enough to fit.
A blank page appears only when printing	Printer driver adding a separator page	Press Ctrl + P and check the preview. If the preview is clean, the extra sheet comes from the printer — see How to Manage Default Printers and Print Settings on Windows.
Formatting changed after deleting a break	Section settings merged	Press Ctrl + Z to undo, then convert the break to Continuous in Page Setup (Step 4).
Blank page reappears after a table	Word's required paragraph after every table	Shrink that paragraph to 1 pt or hide it (Step 6).
Formatting marks will not turn on	Editing in Word for the web	Word for the web does not render formatting marks. Open the file in the Word desktop app from the View tab.
Even pages are blank throughout	Section break set to Odd Page	Open Layout > Page Setup > Layout and change Section start from Odd page to Continuous or New page.

Related Articles

• How to Add Page Numbers, Headers, and Footers in Word
• How to Fix Microsoft Word Formatting Instantly (Without Re-typing)
• How to Insert and Format Tables in Word
• How to Use Heading Styles and Create a Table of Contents in Word
• How to Convert a Word Document to PDF (and Back)
• How to Change Margins and Page Orientation in Word
• How to Change Line Spacing in Word

Did this solve your problem?