The quickest way to remove headers and footers
Open your document in Microsoft Word. Double-click at the very top of the page (in the white space above the text) to enter header editing mode. Select all the text in the header — use Ctrl+A on Windows or Command+A on Mac — then press Delete. The header disappears.
Do the same at the bottom of the page to remove the footer. Double-click in the white space at the bottom, select all, delete. When you're done, double-click back into the main document text to exit header and footer mode. Word automatically removes the header and footer from every page.
If your document uses different headers or footers on the first page, or different ones for odd and even pages, you'll need to remove each version separately — but the process is identical for each one.
Key Takeaways
- Double-click in the top or bottom margin of your page to enter header or footer editing mode, then select all text and delete it.
- Word removes headers and footers from the entire document at once unless you've set up different headers for different sections.
- If your document has a first-page-only header or different headers for odd and even pages, you must remove each version separately.
- Removing headers and footers does not affect the main text of your document or change any other formatting.
When headers and footers are locked or protected
Sometimes a header or footer won't delete because the document is protected. This happens when someone has restricted editing to prevent accidental changes. Look at the top of your screen: if you see a message saying "This document is protected" or "Editing is restricted," you cannot remove the header without unprotecting the document first.
To unprotect the document, go to the Review tab at the top of Word. Look for a button labeled "Restrict Editing" or "Protect Document." Click it and choose "Stop Protection." Word may ask for a password — if you don't know it, you cannot remove the protection. If you do know the password, enter it and try removing the header or footer again.
Removing headers and footers from only some pages
If you want to keep headers or footers on some pages but remove them from others, you need to use section breaks. This is more complex than a straightforward delete, because Word treats each section separately.
Place your cursor at the beginning of the page where you want the header or footer to stop. Go to the Layout tab (or Page Layout in older versions of Word), find the Breaks button, and choose "Continuous." This creates an invisible section break. Now double-click into the header or footer of the new section and delete it. The header or footer remains on all earlier pages but disappears from this point forward.
If you need headers or footers to return later in the document, repeat the process: insert another continuous break where you want them to start again, then add new header or footer content to that section.
Different headers on the first page
Many documents have a different header (or no header at all) on the first page — for example, a title page that shouldn't show a page number. If your document is set up this way, removing the first-page header won't remove headers from the rest of the document.
To check if your document uses a different first-page header, go to the Insert tab and look for "Header" or "Header & Footer." Click it and look for an option that says "Different First Page" or similar. If that option is checked, your first page has its own header.
To remove only the first-page header, double-click in the header area of page one, select all, and delete. To remove headers from the remaining pages, go to page two, double-click the header, select all, and delete. You must do both steps separately.
Removing headers and footers in older versions of Word
In Word 2010 and earlier, the process is slightly different. Double-click in the header or footer area as usual. Once you're in editing mode, go to the Insert menu at the top and look for "Header and Footer" or "Header." Click the dropdown arrow next to it and choose "Remove Header" or "Remove Footer." This deletes the header or footer in one step instead of requiring you to select and delete manually.
If that menu option doesn't appear, use the manual method: select all the text in the header or footer and press Delete. The result is the same.
What happens to page numbers when you remove headers and footers
If your page numbers were in the header or footer, they disappear when you delete the header or footer. If you want to keep page numbers but remove other content, you need to edit the header or footer instead of deleting it entirely.
Double-click into the header or footer, select only the text you want to remove (not the page number), and delete that text. Leave the page number field in place. This keeps page numbers while removing everything else.
If you want to remove page numbers but keep the header or footer text, select only the page number field and delete it. The rest of the header or footer remains.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my header or footer still appear after I deleted it?
You may have deleted the content but not exited header editing mode. Double-click back into the main document text to exit. If the header still appears, check whether your document uses different headers for different sections — you may have deleted only one section's header, not all of them.
Can I remove a header from just one page in the middle of my document?
Not directly. You need to insert a continuous section break before that page, then remove the header from that section onward. If you want the header to return on later pages, insert another section break where you want it to start again and add the header back.
What if the header contains a logo or image I can't select?
Click once on the image to select it, then press Delete. If the image is locked or embedded in a way that prevents deletion, the document may be protected. Check the Review tab for protection settings and unprotect the document if you have the password.
Does removing the header affect my document's margins?
No. The header and footer are separate from the page margins. Removing them does not change how much space is between your text and the edges of the page.