Where to find and remove page breaks

A page break is an invisible marker that forces your document to start a new page at that exact spot. To delete one, you first have to see it. Most editors hide page breaks by default, so you need to turn on a view that shows formatting marks — the invisible characters that control spacing, tabs, and page breaks.

In Microsoft Word, click the paragraph symbol (¶) in the Home tab, or press Ctrl+* on Windows or Cmd+* on Mac. In Google Docs, go to View and select "Show non-printing characters". In LibreOffice Writer, go to View and toggle "Formatting Marks". Once you turn this on, page breaks appear as a line across the page labeled "Page Break" or as a thick dotted line, depending on your editor.

Once you can see the page break, click directly on it and press Delete or Backspace. The page break disappears, and the text below moves up to fill the space. If you cannot click directly on the break itself, click at the very beginning of the line when ready after the break, then press Backspace once.

Key Takeaways

  • Page breaks are invisible by default; you must turn on formatting marks or non-printing characters to see them in your editor.
  • Once visible, a page break looks like a labeled line or thick dotted line across the page and can be deleted by clicking it and pressing Delete or Backspace.
  • If you cannot click the break itself, position your cursor at the start of the line after it and press Backspace once.
  • Accidental page breaks often come from pressing Ctrl+Enter or Cmd+Enter, or from a paragraph style set to "start on a new page".

Why page breaks appear when you did not insert them

Page breaks sometimes show up without your action. The most common cause is a paragraph style — a saved formatting template — that has "start on a new page" turned on. Heading styles often have this setting by default so chapters or sections begin on fresh pages. If you applied a heading style to a paragraph and a page break appeared above it, that is why.

To remove it, select the paragraph with the unwanted page break, then open the paragraph or style settings. In Word, right-click the paragraph and choose "Paragraph", then go to the "Line and Page Breaks" tab and uncheck "Page break before". In Google Docs, open the three-dot menu next to the style name and select "Update [Style Name] to match", which removes the page break rule from that instance. In LibreOffice, right-click and choose "Paragraph", then go to the "Area" tab and uncheck "Break" with "Page" selected.

Removing multiple page breaks at once

If your document has many unwanted page breaks, deleting them one by one is slow. Use Find and Replace to remove them all at once. In Word, open Find and Replace (Ctrl+H or Cmd+H), click "More Options", then check "Use Regular Expressions". In the Find field, type ^m (the code for a manual page break in Word). Leave the Replace field empty and click "Replace All".

In Google Docs, the Find and Replace tool does not search for page breaks directly, so you must delete them manually or use a script. In LibreOffice Writer, open Find and Replace, check "Regular Expressions", and search for \n to find paragraph breaks, but LibreOffice does not have a single code for page breaks — you may need to delete them individually or check the paragraph styles for unwanted "start on new page" settings.

Before you use Replace All, test it on a copy of your document. Removing all page breaks at once can cause unexpected layout changes, especially if some breaks were intentional.

Page breaks versus section breaks

A page break moves text to a new page but keeps the same formatting. A section break moves text to a new page and allows you to change margins, headers, footers, or column layout starting at that point. If you delete a section break instead of a page break, you may lose formatting changes you made to the section below it.

When you turn on formatting marks, section breaks look different from page breaks. In Word, a section break shows "Section Break (Next Page)", "Section Break (Continuous)", or "Section Break (Even Page)". In Google Docs and LibreOffice, section breaks are less common in basic use, but they appear as labeled breaks if present. If you see "Section Break", do not delete it unless you are sure you want to remove the formatting changes that section controlled.

Preventing accidental page breaks

The easiest way to avoid page breaks is to know what creates them. Pressing Ctrl+Enter (or Cmd+Enter on Mac) inserts a manual page break. If you did this by accident, undo it when ready with Ctrl+Z or Cmd+Z. Avoid using multiple Enter key presses to push content down — that creates spacing problems and can cause page breaks to appear in unexpected places when you edit the document later.

If you use heading styles, check their settings once. Open the Styles panel (Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S in Word, or the Format menu in Google Docs and LibreOffice), right-click the heading style, and look for "Page break before" or similar settings. Turn it off if you do not want headings to always start on a new page. This prevents the style from inserting unwanted breaks every time you use it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my page break keep coming back after I delete it?

A paragraph style is probably set to start on a new page. Deleting the break removes only that instance; the style rule creates a new one when you edit nearby. Find the paragraph with the break, identify its style name, then open the style settings and turn off "Page break before" or "Start on new page".

Can I delete a page break without turning on formatting marks?

Not reliably. Without seeing the break, you cannot click it directly. You can try placing your cursor at the top of the page where the break is and pressing Backspace, but you may delete text instead. Always turn on formatting marks first to see exactly what you are deleting.

What is the difference between a page break and pressing Enter many times?

A page break is a single invisible marker that moves text to a new page. Pressing Enter many times creates blank lines, which take up space and can shift when you edit. Page breaks are cleaner for layout, but both should be used sparingly — use styles and spacing settings instead when possible.

If I delete a section break, can I undo it?

Yes. Press Ctrl+Z or Cmd+Z when ready after deleting a section break to restore it and its formatting. If you have made other changes since, undo will step back through those too. If you are unsure whether a break is a page break or section break, undo first and check the formatting marks more carefully.