How to Remove a Blank Page in Word

PDF download Download Article
PDF download Download Article

This wikiHow article teaches you how to remove stubborn blank pages from anywhere in your Word document. Blank pages in the middle of your document are usually the result of hidden extra paragraphs or page breaks. If the blank page is at the end, it could be the same situation—however, it's also may be due to Word's hidden end paragraph feature. You can get rid of blank pages by making paragraph and page breaks markers visible and editing or deleting them manually.

Method 1
Method 1 of 3:

Deleting a Blank Middle Page

PDF download Download Article
  1. If a strange blank page appears in the middle of your Word document, it's likely due to an unintentional page break or extra paragraph markers that you can't see.
  2. This displays paragraph markers (¶) at the beginning of each blank line, as well as at the end of every paragraph. If there are any page breaks on this page, you'll see them marked by dotted lines and the word "Page Break." [1]
    Advertisement
  3. You'll want to look for this on both the blank page and the page after it. If you see a paragraph marker with a black square beside it, the paragraph has the "Page break before" setting turned on. You'll want to turn this off. To do so:
    • Click the Home tab at the top of Word.
    • Right-click the paragraph marker ¶ that has the corresponding black bullet point.
    • Select Paragraph… on the menu.
    • Click the Lines and Page Breaks tab.
    • Remove the check next to "Page break before" (if there is one) and click OK .
  4. If you see both (or more than one of each), highlight it all at once.
    • Also check the page right before your blank one for extra page breaks and delete those as well.
    • Don't select paragraph markers that appear on lines that contain actual content.
  5. This should delete all the ¶ marks and page breaks, which should delete the blank page.
    • If the blank page is still there, double-check the pages before for page breaks.
  6. This hides the paragraph markers again. [2]
    7. Advertisement
Method 2
Method 2 of 3:

Deleting a Blank Last Page

PDF download Download Article
  1. If a strange blank page appears at the end of your Word document, it could be due to Word's hidden undeletable end paragraph. [3] According to Microsoft, the most reliable way to get rid of that blank page is to make the hidden paragraph very small.
    • The undeletable hidden paragraph usually occurs when the content of your last real page (not the blank page) goes all the way to the bottom of that page.
  2. This displays paragraph markers (¶) at the beginning of each blank line, as well as at the end of every paragraph. Since you have a blank page at the end of your document, you'll see at least one paragraph marker on that page.
  3. If more than one paragraph marker appears on the blank page, deleting all of them will get usually get rid of the blank page. Try that first.
    • If there's only one paragraph marker at the top of the page, deleting it won't help—continue with this method, if so.
  4. Here's how: [4]
    • Click the Home tab if you're not already there.
    • Highlight the paragraph marker.
    • Click the font size next to the font's name.
    • Replace it with 01 and press Enter or Return .
  5. This hides the paragraph markers again, which should delete the blank page at the end by fitting the hidden paragraph on the last page that contains content. [5]
    • If you still have a blank page after this, you can reduce the size of the bottom margin instead. To do this, click the Layout tab, select Margins , click Custom Margins , and change the bottom margin to 0.3 inches.
    6. Advertisement
Method 3
Method 3 of 3:

Saving as a PDF to Omit Last Blank Page

PDF download Download Article
  1. If you still have a blank page at the end of your document after fixing hidden end paragraphs, you can omit the last page when saving your document as a PDF. [6]
    • This only works on the desktop version of Word—the web version doesn't let you choose which pages to include in a PDF.
    • If your file is synced to One Drive, you won't see Save as . Click Save as copy instead.
    • If the document must be in the Word format, you can convert the PDF back to the Word format after you save it as a PDF.
  2. Depending on your version of Word, the file type menu may be in the upper-right corner of the page, or in the "Save as type" menu toward the bottom. [7]
  3. You'll see one of these two options near the menu from which you selected PDF .
  4. This allows you to select a range of include in your PDF. [8]
  5. Type "1" in the "From" box, and the last real page (before the blank page) into the "To" box.
  6. This saves your document as a PDF, minus the blank page(s) at the end.
    7. Advertisement

Community Q&A

Search
Add New Question
  • Question
    How can I delete an Excel page copied to Word?
    Community Answer
    You can usually highlight the entire pasted table and hit the Delete key. If that doesn't work, try this: highlight the entire table, then right-click on it and select "Cut."
    Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
    Thank you for your feedback.
    If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
    Yes No
    Not Helpful 24 Helpful 26
  • Question
    What if the methods described above still don't work? What can I do then?
    Community Answer
    A far better and easier way is to save the doc as a pdf, delete the page from the pdf (which is super easy by clicking on "organize pages"), and then resave as a doc.
    Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
    Thank you for your feedback.
    If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
    Yes No
    Not Helpful 85 Helpful 71
  • Question
    How can I create a word document I can later fill in blanks such as names or other info in a contract?
    Community Answer
    If it's for a printed document, just string underscores together to make the blanks for filling in.
    Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
    Thank you for your feedback.
    If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
    Yes No
    Not Helpful 12 Helpful 6
See more answers
Ask a Question
200 characters left
Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.
Submit
      Advertisement

      Video

      Read Video Transcript

      Tips

      Submit a Tip
      All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published
      Name
      Please provide your name and last initial
      Submit
      Thanks for submitting a tip for review!

      You Might Also Like

      How to
      Use Comment Boxes in Microsoft Word
      4 Quick Ways to Create a 3D Object in Microsoft Word
      How to
      Check Punctuation in Microsoft Word
      How to
      Center Align Text in Microsoft Word: 3 Quick Ways
      Easily Add Page Numbers to a Word Document on Any Platform
      How to
      Add Check Boxes to Word: 10 Simple Steps
      3 Simple Ways to Insert a Hyperlink in Microsoft Word
      How to
      Add Backgrounds in Microsoft Word: Watermarks, Images, & Colors
      3 Easy Ways to Delete a Horizontal Line in a Word Document
      How to
      Print Avery Labels in Microsoft Word on PC or Mac
      How to
      Create and Edit the Table of Contents in Word
      How to
      Remove the 'Read Only' Status on MS Word Documents
      How to
      Add a Horizontal Line in Microsoft Word
      Easily Format Word Docs from Scratch or Using Templates
      Advertisement

      References

      1. ↑ https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-delete-a-page-in-word-remove-blank-or-extra-pages/
      2. ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/delete-a-blank-page-a5efa26e-6a21-4ac8-81ce-220a46d105a8
      3. ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/delete-a-blank-page-a5efa26e-6a21-4ac8-81ce-220a46d105a8
      4. ↑ https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/how-to-delete-a-page-in-word/
      5. ↑ https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-delete-a-page-in-word-remove-blank-or-extra-pages/
      6. ↑ https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000925.htm#saveas
      7. ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/office/save-or-convert-to-pdf-or-xps-in-office-desktop-apps-d85416c5-7d77-4fd6-a216-6f4bf7c7c110
      8. ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/office/save-or-convert-to-pdf-or-xps-in-office-desktop-apps-d85416c5-7d77-4fd6-a216-6f4bf7c7c110

      About This Article

      Article Summary X

      1. Open your document in Microsoft Word.
      2. Press " Ctrl + Shift + 8 " on Windows or " Command + 8 " on Mac to display line break symbols in the document
      3. Scroll down to the blank page.
      4. Highlight any Page break or Paragraph symbols (¶) on the page.
      5. Press " Delete ".

      Did this summary help you?
      In other languages
      Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 2,822,684 times.

      Is this article up to date?

      Advertisement