Delete a single page from a PDF in Preview in three steps

Open the PDF in Preview (the default PDF viewer on Mac). Click the Sidebar button in the toolbar — it looks like three horizontal lines on the left side of the window. You will see thumbnail images of every page in your document on the left.

Right-click or Control-click the page you want to remove, then select Delete from the menu that appears. The page vanishes when ready. Save the file by pressing Command+S or going to File > Save.

That is the entire process. Preview does not ask you to confirm the deletion, so the page is gone as soon as you click Delete. If you remove the wrong page by accident, press Command+Z to undo before you save.

Key Takeaways

  • The Sidebar button in Preview's toolbar shows you thumbnail images of every page so you can see exactly which one you are removing.
  • Right-click the page thumbnail and select Delete — no dialog box appears, so the page is removed when ready.
  • Undo with Command+Z before saving if you delete the wrong page by mistake.
  • Preview saves changes only when you press Command+S or use File > Save, so you have a moment to change your mind.
  • If you need to delete multiple pages at once, select them all by holding Shift or Command while clicking, then right-click and delete.

How to select and delete multiple pages at once

If you need to remove more than one page, the sidebar makes this faster. Click the first page you want to delete, then hold Shift and click the last page in the range. All pages between them highlight in blue. If the pages you want to delete are not next to each other, hold Command instead of Shift and click each one individually.

Once all the pages you want to remove are highlighted, right-click any of them and select Delete. All selected pages disappear at once. Save the file when you are done.

What happens if you delete a page by accident

Preview does not show a confirmation dialog before deleting, so mistakes happen. The good news is that undo works when ready — press Command+Z right after you delete, and the page comes back. You can undo multiple times if you deleted several pages in a row.

This only works before you save. Once you press Command+S or close the file, the deletion is permanent and undo will not bring the page back. If you realize the mistake after saving, you will need to use the original PDF file or restore from a backup.

Why Preview is useful for straightforward PDF edits

Preview comes built into every Mac, so you do not need to read or pay for software to remove a page. It handles the most common PDF tasks — deleting pages, rotating them, reordering them, and combining multiple PDFs — without opening a separate process.

Preview is not the right tool if you need to edit text inside a PDF, add form fields, or make complex changes to the document layout. For those tasks, you would need dedicated PDF software like Adobe Acrobat or a free alternative like PDFtk. But for removing unwanted pages, Preview does the job in seconds.

How to reorder pages instead of deleting them

Sometimes you realize you want to keep a page but move it somewhere else in the document. In the sidebar, click and drag a page thumbnail to a new position. The page moves as you drag, and you can see where it will land by watching the other thumbnails shift. Release the mouse when the page is where you want it.

This is useful if you have a cover page in the wrong spot, or if pages got scanned out of order. You can rearrange the entire document without deleting anything, then save when you are happy with the order.

Saving your changes in the right format

When you delete pages and save in Preview, the file stays in PDF format by default. Press Command+S and the changes overwrite the original file. If you want to keep the original and save a new version with pages removed, use File > Export As instead. This lets you give the file a new name and choose where to save it.

Preview can also export to other formats like JPEG or PNG, but those are image formats — each page becomes a separate image file. For most purposes, keeping the PDF format makes sense because it preserves the document structure and is easier to share.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I delete a page from the middle of a PDF without affecting the rest?

Yes. Deleting any page does not change the other pages at all — they stay in the same order with the same content. The page numbers shift down by one after you delete, but the document structure remains intact.

What if the Sidebar button is not visible in my Preview toolbar?

The toolbar layout can change depending on your Mac version. Look for a button that looks like three horizontal lines or a grid icon. If you cannot find it, go to View > Sidebar in the menu bar — this toggles the sidebar on and off.

Does deleting a page in Preview remove it from the original file on my computer?

Only if you save the file. Preview opens a copy of the PDF in memory. If you delete pages and then close the file without saving, the original file stays unchanged. You must press Command+S or use File > Save to make the deletion permanent.

Can I delete pages from a PDF that is password-protected?

No. If a PDF has restrictions set by the creator, Preview will not let you edit it — you cannot delete, reorder, or rotate pages. You would need the password or different software that can remove the restrictions.

Is there a way to delete every other page or use a pattern?

Preview does not have a batch delete feature for patterns. You have to select and delete pages manually. If you need to remove many pages following a pattern, a dedicated PDF tool or a command-line utility might be faster.