Find and remove page breaks you inserted yourself
A page break is a command that forces Word to start a new page, even if the current page has blank space. You inserted it deliberately — either by pressing Ctrl+Enter (Windows) or Command+Enter (Mac), or through the Insert menu. To remove it, you need to see where it is first.
Turn on formatting marks so you can see the page break symbol. On Windows, press Ctrl+Shift+8 or click the pilcrow button (¶) in the Home tab. On Mac, press Command+Option+8 or click the pilcrow in the Home tab. A page break appears as a dotted line across the page with the words "Page Break" inside it.
Click directly on the page break line to select it, then press Delete. The page break disappears and the text below moves up to fill the space. If you have many page breaks, this is the fastest method — you can see each one and remove only the ones you want.
Key Takeaways
- Page breaks you inserted appear as dotted lines labeled "Page Break" when formatting marks are turned on with Ctrl+Shift+8 (Windows) or Command+Option+8 (Mac).
- Select the page break line and press Delete to remove it; the text below will move up when ready.
- Automatic page breaks created by Word when text fills a page cannot be deleted directly — they disappear when you remove content or change margins.
- Use Find & Replace (Ctrl+H or Command+H) to search for and remove all manual page breaks at once if you have many throughout a document.
- If a page break reappears after deletion, a formatting rule like "page break before" on a paragraph style is forcing it — check paragraph settings in that style.
Use Find and Replace to remove multiple page breaks at once
If your document has many page breaks scattered throughout, removing them one by one takes time. Word's Find and Replace feature can find every manual page break and delete them all in seconds.
Open Find and Replace by pressing Ctrl+H (Windows) or Command+H (Mac). In the Find field, type ^m — this is the code Word uses to represent a manual page break. Leave the Replace field empty. Click "Replace All" and Word will remove every manual page break in the document at once.
If you want to review each page break before deleting it, click "Find Next" to jump to the first one, then click "Replace" to remove it individually. This method works even if formatting marks are turned off, so you do not have to switch views.
Understand the difference between manual and automatic page breaks
Word creates two types of page breaks, and only one of them can be deleted. A manual page break is one you inserted by pressing Ctrl+Enter or using the Insert menu. An automatic page break is created by Word itself when text fills a page — it has no symbol and cannot be selected or deleted.
If you see a page break you cannot select or delete, it is automatic. Word placed it there because the text above it filled the page. To remove an automatic page break, you must either delete some of the text above it, reduce the font size, decrease the margins, or change the line spacing. The page break will disappear once there is less content pushing down to the next page.
Check paragraph formatting if a page break keeps coming back
Sometimes you delete a page break but it reappears in the same spot. This happens when a paragraph style has a "page break before" rule built into it. Word automatically inserts a page break before that paragraph every time it appears, overriding your deletion.
Right-click on the paragraph where the page break keeps appearing and select "Paragraph" from the menu. Click the "Line and Page Breaks" tab (or "Indents and Spacing" then look for page break options, depending on your Word version). Uncheck the box labeled "Page break before" and click OK. The unwanted page break will no longer return.
This setting is common in styles used for chapter headings or section starts. If you want page breaks before certain paragraphs but not others, create a separate style without the "page break before" rule and explore it to the paragraphs where you do not want the break.
Remove page breaks created by section breaks
A section break is different from a page break — it divides your document into sections with different formatting, margins, or headers. Section breaks often create page breaks as a side effect. If you see a page break that looks unusual or appears with other formatting changes, a section break may be the cause.
Turn on formatting marks to see section breaks. They appear as a line labeled "Section Break (Next Page)" or similar. Click on the section break and press Delete to remove it. The two sections will merge, and any page break associated with that section break will disappear.
Be careful when deleting section breaks — the formatting of the text below will change to match the section above. If you need the formatting but not the page break, you can change the section break type instead. Right-click the section break, select "Edit Section", and change it from "Next Page" to "Continuous" so the new section starts on the same page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why can't I see the page break I'm trying to delete?
Formatting marks are turned off. Press Ctrl+Shift+8 (Windows) or Command+Option+8 (Mac) to turn them on. Manual page breaks only show up when formatting marks are visible. If you still cannot see it after turning marks on, the page break may be automatic — created by Word because the page is full — and cannot be selected or deleted directly.
I deleted a page break but it came back in the same place
A paragraph style has a "page break before" rule. Right-click the paragraph where the break reappears, select "Paragraph", click "Line and Page Breaks", and uncheck "Page break before". This stops Word from automatically inserting a break before that paragraph.
What's the difference between ^m and ^p in Find and Replace?
^m finds manual page breaks. ^p finds paragraph marks (the invisible symbol at the end of each line). If you use ^p to search, you will find thousands of results — every single line ending. Always use ^m when searching for page breaks specifically.
Can I delete an automatic page break?
No, not directly. Automatic page breaks are created by Word when text fills a page and cannot be selected. To remove one, delete some text above it, reduce font size, decrease margins, or change line spacing so less content fills the page. The automatic break will disappear once there is room.
Does deleting a page break change the formatting of my document?
Deleting a manual page break does not change formatting — it just moves text up to fill the space. However, deleting a section break will change the formatting of the text below it to match the section above. If you need the formatting but not the page break, change the section break type to "Continuous" instead of deleting it.