The fastest way depends on what's actually on the page
A blank page in Word usually means one of three things: leftover space from a page break, extra paragraph marks, or a table that pushed content onto its own page. The method you use matters because deleting the wrong thing leaves you with the same problem. If you can see text or a table on the page, select and delete that content first. If the page is truly blank, you are almost always dealing with invisible formatting marks — paragraph symbols or page breaks — that Word is treating as content.
The most reliable approach is to show formatting marks so you can see what is actually taking up space. Press Ctrl + Shift + 8 on Windows or Cmd + Shift + 8 on Mac. Word will display paragraph marks (¶), spaces, and tabs as visible symbols. Blank pages almost always disappear once you delete the formatting marks causing them.
Key Takeaways
- Turn on formatting marks with Ctrl + Shift + 8 (Windows) or Cmd + Shift + 8 (Mac) to see what is actually creating the blank page.
- A blank page is usually caused by extra paragraph marks or an unwanted page break, not by actual content.
- Delete the paragraph mark or page break symbol itself, not the space around it, to remove the page without leaving formatting behind.
- If a table is pushing content to a new page, reduce the table size or move it rather than deleting the page break above it.
Finding and removing extra paragraph marks
Once formatting marks are visible, look for a series of paragraph symbols (¶) on the blank page. Each paragraph mark takes up space — if you have five or six in a row on an otherwise empty page, deleting all but one will collapse that page into the previous one. Click at the beginning of the first extra paragraph mark and drag to select all of them, then press Delete.
Be careful not to delete the paragraph mark at the very end of your document. Word requires at least one paragraph mark to exist, and removing the last one can cause formatting problems. If you are at the end of your document and see extra marks, delete all but the final one.
Removing unwanted page breaks
A page break is a formatting symbol that forces Word to start a new page, even if the previous page is not full. It looks like a line with the words "Page Break" inside it when formatting marks are on. Page breaks are common in longer documents where you want chapters or sections to start on a fresh page, but they can also be inserted accidentally.
To remove a page break, click directly on the page break symbol and press Delete. The content that was on the next page will move up and fill the space. If you have multiple blank pages in a row, check for multiple page breaks — each one will need to be deleted separately.
Handling pages created by large tables or images
Sometimes a table or image is so large that it pushes all remaining content onto the next page, creating what looks like a blank page. Formatting marks will not show a page break symbol in this case — the page exists because of the object size. You have two options: make the table or image smaller, or move it to a different location in the document.
To resize a table, click on it and drag the corner handles inward. To move it, click the table border and drag it to a new spot. If the table needs to stay that size, you can also adjust the page margins (go to Layout > Margins) to give it more room, which may eliminate the extra page.
Deleting a page that contains actual text
If the page you want to remove has text on it, select all the text on that page and delete it. The easiest way is to click at the start of the page content, then hold Shift and click at the end of the content you want to remove. Press Delete. If the page still exists after you delete the text, follow the steps above to remove any remaining paragraph marks or page breaks.
For longer documents, you can also use Find & Replace to remove specific text across multiple pages at once. Press Ctrl + H (Windows) or Cmd + H (Mac), type the text you want to find, leave the Replace field empty, and click Replace All. This is faster than manually selecting and deleting if you are removing repeated content.
When a page won't delete
If you have deleted all visible content and formatting marks but the page still appears, the issue is usually a section break rather than a page break. Section breaks are used to explore different formatting (like different margins or headers) to different parts of a document. They look similar to page breaks when formatting marks are on.
To remove a section break, click on it and press Delete. Be aware that deleting a section break will explore the formatting from the previous section to the content that follows. If your document uses sections intentionally (for example, different page numbers in different chapters), removing a section break may change how those sections look. If you are unsure, undo the deletion with Ctrl + Z and try a different approach.
Preventing blank pages in the future
Blank pages usually happen because of habits that create extra formatting. If you press Enter multiple times at the end of a section to create space, you are creating paragraph marks that can turn into blank pages later. Instead, use spacing before and after paragraphs: select the paragraph, go to Layout > Spacing, and set the space after to the amount you want. This keeps formatting clean and prevents accidental blank pages.
Similarly, avoid using page breaks to create space. If you want a section to start on a new page, use a page break (Ctrl + Enter), but do not add extra paragraph marks around it. And if you insert a table, check its size before moving on — a table that is too large for the page will create an extra page automatically.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my document have a blank page in the middle that I cannot see?
Turn on formatting marks (Ctrl + Shift + 8) to see what is creating the space. It is almost always extra paragraph marks or a page break. Once you can see the symbols, click on them and press Delete. The page will collapse once the formatting is removed.
I deleted the page break but the blank page is still there. What now?
Check for extra paragraph marks on the blank page itself. A page break removes the forced page division, but if there are still paragraph marks taking up space, the page will remain. Delete those marks one at a time until the page is gone.
Will deleting a page break mess up my document formatting?
Deleting a page break will move the content that was on the next page up to fill the space. If that content was meant to start on a new page for a reason (like a chapter title), you will need to re-insert the page break in the right place. If the page break was accidental, deleting it will not cause any other problems.
How do I delete a page without deleting the text on it?
You cannot delete a page without removing what is on it — a page is just the space Word allocates to content. If you want to keep the text but move it, cut it (Ctrl + X), delete the page, and paste it (Ctrl + V) where you want it to go.
What is the difference between a page break and a section break?
A page break forces a new page but keeps the same formatting. A section break creates a new page and allows you to change formatting (margins, headers, page numbers) for that section. Section breaks look similar in formatting marks but are harder to delete because removing them changes formatting. If you see "Section Break" in the formatting marks, be careful when deleting it.