The blank page is usually caused by extra paragraph marks or a page break

A blank page in Word almost always comes from one of three things: extra paragraph marks at the end of your document, a manual page break you no longer need, or a table that pushes content onto a new page. The fix depends on which one you have, but you can see what's causing it by turning on formatting marks — the hidden symbols that show where paragraphs end and where breaks occur.

To see these marks, press Ctrl+* on Windows or Cmd+* on Mac. You'll see a pilcrow symbol (¶) at the end of each paragraph and a special symbol for page breaks. Once you can see what's there, you can delete the specific thing causing the blank page instead of guessing.

Key Takeaways

  • Turn on formatting marks with Ctrl+* (Windows) or Cmd+* (Mac) to see what's creating the blank page.
  • Extra paragraph marks at the end of your document are the most common cause — select and delete them.
  • Manual page breaks show as a line labeled "Page Break" and can be deleted by clicking on the line and pressing Delete.
  • Tables at the bottom of a page sometimes push a single paragraph onto a new blank page — delete the paragraph or move the table up.

Delete extra paragraph marks at the end of your document

If you see several ¶ symbols stacked at the very end of your document with nothing after them, those are empty paragraphs creating the blank page. Click right before the first empty ¶, then hold Shift and click at the very end of the document to select all of them at once. Press Delete.

If there are only one or two empty paragraphs, you can also just click at the end of your last real paragraph and press Delete repeatedly until the blank page disappears. Watch the page count at the bottom of your screen — when it drops from (for example) 3 pages to 2 pages, you've removed the blank page.

Remove a manual page break

A page break is a command that forces Word to start a new page, even if the current page isn't full. With formatting marks on, a page break appears as a line across the page with the words "Page Break" written on it. Click directly on that line, then press Delete. The page break disappears and content from the next page moves up.

Page breaks are useful when you want a chapter to start on a fresh page, but they're straightforward to insert by accident. If you see one and don't remember putting it there, it was probably created by pressing Ctrl+Enter or using the Insert menu. Deleting it won't hurt anything — you can always add it back later if you need it.

Handle a table pushing content to a new page

If your blank page appears right after a table, the table itself may be pushing a paragraph onto the next page. With formatting marks on, click on the paragraph mark after the table. If that single paragraph is taking up a whole page, select it and press Delete. The page will collapse.

If you need that paragraph (for example, it's a caption or closing line), try moving the table up instead. Click on the table, then drag it higher on the page to make room for the paragraph. Alternatively, you can reduce the table's size or the spacing around it by right-clicking the table, choosing Table Properties, and adjusting the spacing in the Borders and Shading tab.

Check for section breaks or column breaks

Less commonly, a blank page comes from a section break or column break rather than a page break. With formatting marks on, a section break looks like a dotted line labeled "Section Break (Next Page)" or similar. A column break appears as a short dotted line labeled "Column Break." Both can be deleted the same way: click on the line and press Delete.

Section breaks are used when you want different page formatting (like different margins or headers) in different parts of a document. If you see one and didn't intentionally create it, deleting it will merge the sections and may change the formatting of nearby text — but you can undo with Ctrl+Z if that's not what you wanted.

Turn off formatting marks when you're done

Once you've found and removed the blank page, press Ctrl+* again to turn off the formatting marks. Your document will look normal again, but now you know what was hiding behind that blank page. If the blank page comes back later, you'll know how to find it.

Formatting marks are a tool, not a permanent part of your document — they don't print and they don't affect how the document looks to anyone else. You can turn them on and off as many times as you need while editing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Word keep creating blank pages?

Usually because you're pressing Enter too many times at the end of a section, or because you have automatic formatting turned on that's adding extra space. Turn on formatting marks to see what's there, delete the unnecessary marks, and be more careful about how many times you press Enter at the end of content.

Can I delete a blank page in the middle of my document?

Yes, but carefully. A blank page in the middle usually means there's a page break or section break creating it. Find it with formatting marks on, click on the break line, and delete it. Content from the next page will move up. If that's not what you wanted, undo when ready with Ctrl+Z.

What if I can't find what's causing the blank page?

Make sure formatting marks are actually on — sometimes they're hard to see if your document has a lot of text. If you still can't spot it, try selecting all content with Ctrl+A, then look at the page count. If it drops when you select, the blank page is after your actual content and is just extra paragraph marks at the very end.

Will deleting a page break affect my document's formatting?

Deleting a page break will move content from the next page up to fill the space. If that page had different formatting (different margins, headers, or columns), deleting the break will remove that formatting change. You can undo with Ctrl+Z if you didn't mean to do that.