cannot delete a whole page within a document

penguin EE 0 Reputation points
2026-09-17T01:47:56.4433333+00:00

I have a 17 page document, but 6 of those pages are blank. I am not able to delete the blank pages. 

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For education | Windows
0 comments

2 answers

Sort by: Oldest
Most helpful Newest Oldest

  1. AI answer

    2026-09-17T01:48:09.2366667+00:00

    In Word, blank pages usually come from one of these items: extra paragraph marks, a manual page break, or a section break.

    Try this in order:

    1. Show formatting marks by pressing Ctrl+Shift+8.
    2. On each blank page, look for any of these:
      • paragraph marks (¶)
      • Page Break
      • Section Break
    3. If the blank page contains empty paragraph marks, select them and delete them.
    4. If the blank page contains a manual page break, select the page break and delete it.
    5. If the blank page is at the end of the document, it may be caused by Word’s required end paragraph being pushed onto a new page. In that case:
      • select the final paragraph mark
      • in the Font size box, type 01 and press Enter
      • if needed, go to Layout > Margins > Custom Margins and reduce the bottom margin to something small such as 0.3 inches
    6. If the paragraph mark shows a square bullet next to it, right-click the empty paragraph, open Paragraph Settings, go to Lines and Page Breaks, and clear Page break before.
    7. If the blank page is caused by a section break:
      • for a blank page at the end, place the cursor directly before the section break and press Delete
      • in the middle of the document, deleting a section break can change formatting, so a safer option is to select the section break, go to Layout > Breaks, and change it to Continuous
    8. To find section breaks more easily, switch to Draft view from the View tab.

    If the blank pages are only visible in Print Layout or Print Preview, they can also be caused by Odd Page, Even Page, or Next Page section breaks.

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

    Was this answer helpful?

  2. Jade Ng 15,480 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-09-17T02:22:24.14+00:00

    Dear penguin EE,

    These blank pages may be caused by hidden paragraph marks, page breaks, or section breaks.

    If the blank page is at the end of your document, it may be caused by Word's required end paragraph being pushed onto a new page. Because the end paragraph can't be deleted, use the steps below to make it fit on the preceding page and remove the blank page. The most reliable way is to make the end-paragraph very small (1 point):

    • Press Ctrl+Shift+8 to show paragraph marks.
    • Select the paragraph mark.
    • Select inside the Font size box, type 01, and then press Enter.

    Setting font size to 1

    • The paragraph now fits on the preceding page, removing the unwanted blank page.
    • Press Ctrl+Shift+8 again to hide the paragraph marks.

    If that paragraph still doesn't fit on the preceding page, you can make the bottom margin smaller (Layout tab > Margins > Custom Margins, and set the bottom margin to something small, like 0.3 inches).

    If the paragraph mark has a square bullet next to it, the paragraph might have the Page break before option turned on. To turn it off, right-click the empty paragraph, select Paragraph Settings (Home tab), and on the Lines and Page Breaks tab of the dialog box, uncheck Page break before.

    Untitled

    For reference: Remove a blank page at the end of a document

    I hope this helps! Please feel free to reply below if you have any update or further concern.  

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments

Your answer

Answers can be marked as 'Accepted' by the question author and 'Recommended' by moderators, which helps users know the answer solved the author's problem.