The fastest way to delete a line

To delete a line in Word, click anywhere on that line, then press Ctrl+Shift+K (Windows) or Cmd+Shift+K (Mac). The entire line vanishes. If that keyboard shortcut does not work on your machine, select the whole line by triple-clicking it, then press Delete or Backspace.

This works for any line — a sentence, a paragraph, a heading, a bullet point. Word treats a line as whatever text sits between two paragraph breaks, so the shortcut removes everything from the start of the line to the end, including the line break itself.

If you want to undo the deletion when ready, press Ctrl+Z (Windows) or Cmd+Z (Mac). Word keeps your last several actions in memory, so you can undo multiple times if you deleted the wrong thing.

Key Takeaways

  • Press Ctrl+Shift+K (Windows) or Cmd+Shift+K (Mac) to delete an entire line with one shortcut.
  • If the shortcut does not work, triple-click the line to select it all, then press Delete or Backspace.
  • A line in Word means everything between two paragraph breaks, so the shortcut removes the whole thing including the break.
  • Undo a deletion when ready by pressing Ctrl+Z (Windows) or Cmd+Z (Mac).

Selecting and deleting a line manually

If you prefer not to use keyboard shortcuts, you can select the line first and then delete it. Triple-click anywhere on the line you want to remove. Word highlights the entire line in blue. Then press Delete or Backspace, and the line disappears.

Triple-clicking works because Word recognizes a line as a unit. One click places your cursor. Two clicks select the word under your cursor. Three clicks select the whole paragraph or line. This is faster than dragging your mouse from the start of the line to the end.

After you delete the line, the text below it moves up to fill the space. If you want to keep a blank line where the deleted text was, press Enter after deleting to create a new empty line.

Deleting part of a line

Sometimes you only want to remove part of a line, not the whole thing. Click at the start of the text you want to delete, then hold Shift and click at the end of that text. The section between your two clicks turns blue. Now press Delete or Backspace to remove just that portion.

Alternatively, click where you want to start deleting and drag your mouse to where you want to stop. Release the mouse button, and the selected text appears highlighted. Then press Delete. This method works well if you can see both the start and end of what you want to remove on your screen at the same time.

If you are deleting text in the middle of a line, Word automatically closes the gap. The words before and after your deletion move together. If they should have a space between them and do not, add one by clicking between them and pressing the spacebar.

Deleting blank lines

Blank lines take up space in your document but contain no text. To delete a blank line, click on it and press Delete or Backspace. The blank line disappears and the text below moves up.

Blank lines often appear when you press Enter more times than you mean to, or when you paste text from another source. If your document has many blank lines scattered throughout, you can find and remove them all at once using Word's Find and Replace feature. Press Ctrl+H (Windows) or Cmd+H (Mac) to open Find and Replace, type ^p^p in the Find field (which means two paragraph breaks in a row), type ^p in the Replace field (one paragraph break), and click Replace All. This removes extra blank lines while keeping single spaces between paragraphs.

Deleting lines in tables and lists

If the line you want to delete is inside a table, right-click on the row and select Delete Rows from the menu that appears. Word removes the entire row and shifts the rows below it up. If you want to delete just the content inside a cell without removing the row itself, click in the cell and press Delete.

For bullet points or numbered lists, click on the line and press Backspace. Word removes the bullet or number and moves the text up. If you want to keep the bullet point but delete only the text, select the text and press Delete instead.

Recovering a deleted line

If you delete a line by mistake, press Ctrl+Z (Windows) or Cmd+Z (Mac) when ready. Word restores the line to where it was. You can undo multiple times — Word typically remembers your last 100 actions, though this depends on your settings.

If you have already saved the document after deleting the line, you cannot undo the deletion. However, Word keeps a backup of recent versions of your file. Click File, then Info, then Version History (or Manage Document on older versions). Word shows you a list of saved versions with timestamps. Click an earlier version to open it, and you can copy the deleted line from there and paste it back into your current document.

Why Word sometimes will not delete a line

If you press Delete or Backspace and nothing happens, the line might be protected. Some documents have sections locked to prevent accidental changes. Click Review in the ribbon at the top, then look for a button that says Protect Document or Restrict Editing. If it is highlighted or active, the document is protected. Click it to turn off protection, and you should then be able to delete the line.

Another reason deletion might not work is if the line is part of a header or footer. Headers and footers are separate from the main document. To edit them, double-click in the header or footer area at the top or bottom of the page. Once you are inside the header or footer, you can delete lines normally. Click outside the header or footer area when you are done.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I delete a line without using the keyboard shortcut?

Yes. Triple-click the line to select it all, then press Delete or Backspace. You can also click at the start of the line, hold Shift, and click at the end to select it, then press Delete. Both methods work without keyboard shortcuts.

What is the difference between deleting a line and deleting a paragraph?

In Word, a line and a paragraph are the same thing — they both end with a paragraph break. Deleting a line removes everything from the start to the paragraph break at the end. If you only want to remove the text but keep the blank line, select the text and press Delete instead of selecting the whole line.

Will deleting a line mess up my formatting?

Deleting a line removes the text and the paragraph break, so the line below moves up and inherits the formatting of the line above. If the formatting looks wrong after deletion, press Ctrl+Z to undo and try a different approach, or manually fix the formatting by clicking the line and adjusting it in the toolbar.

How do I delete multiple lines at once?

Click at the start of the first line you want to delete, then hold Shift and click at the end of the last line. All the lines between turn blue. Press Delete or Backspace to remove them all. Alternatively, click the first line, hold Shift, and press the Down arrow key multiple times to select several lines, then press Delete.

Can I delete a line from a PDF in Word?

If you open a PDF in Word, you can edit and delete text like any other document. However, the formatting may shift because Word converts the PDF to its own format. After deleting a line, check that the rest of the document still looks correct. If the PDF is read-only, you may need to convert it to a Word document first or open it in a different program.