How to Delete a Page in Word

Deleting a page from any digital document should be a simple task. However, Microsoft Word does not have a delete page button, so things are not as simple. This guide will come in handy if you want to delete the first, second, middle, last, or a blank page in Microsoft Word. Let’s look at how to delete a page in Word on a PC, mobile device, and the Web.

Also read:How to Convert Google Docs to Microsoft Word (and Vice Versa)

1. Using Delete or Backspace

This is one of the easiest methods to remove a page from your Word document. Navigate to the page you want to remove, then use one of the following methods:

Remove Blank Page: if it’s a blank page, click at the bottom of the page and press the Backspace key (Windows) or Delete key (macOS) multiple times until the page is removed and the cursor moves to the page above it.

Remove Page With Data: if the page has data in it, select the content on the page manually using your mouse, making sure you select the right page. Press the Delete key on your keyboard to delete the data creating a blank page, then press Backspace (Windows) or Delete (macOS) to remove the blank page.

Select Current Page and Remove It: if you are unable to select the entire page manually, you can use the Go to function for that as shown below:

1. Click anywhere on the page you want to remove.
2. Press Ctrl + G in Windows and Option + ⌘ + G in macOS to open the “Find and Replace” pop-up window.
3. Type “page” in the “Enter page number” box and click on “Go to” followed by the “Close” button.

4. When the page’s content is selected, press the Delete key to remove the content, then use the method described above to delete the blank page.

Users are often unable to delete blank pages due to unwanted spaces, invisible page breaks, section breaks, whitespaces, the ending paragraph on the last page, etc. This can be handled by the following methods.

Also read:How to Insert the Degree Symbol in Microsoft Word

2. Delete Using Navigation Pane

1. Click on the “View” tab in the menu bar and check the box next to “Navigation Pane.”

2. Click on the “Pages” tab to view all the pages present in your document, click on the blank page thumbnail under the “Pages” tab, then press the Delete key to delete that page. Please note that this method will not work for pages with data.

3. Delete Blank Spaces and Page Breaks

1. Go to the blank page you want to delete.
2. Click on the paragraph icon in the formatting toolbar. Alternatively, hold Ctrl + Shift + 8 on Windows or Command + 8 on macOS.

3. With the paragraph marker enabled, double click on the paragraph icon on the blank page to select it, then press the Delete or Backspace button to remove the blank page. You may need to press the buttons multiple times.

Similarly, you may see the page or section breaks on your blank pages. Select and remove them to delete the page.

4. Turn off paragraph markers by repeating step 2.

Tip: to find section breaks, enable “Draft mode” from the “View” tab.

Also read:How to Delete All Images from a Word Document

4. Change Size of End Paragraph

Often, Word adds an end-paragraph to the last page of your document for no reason at all. It isn’t easy to remove, as it’s an item that can’t be deleted. The trick is to decrease the size of the end-paragraph so that it fits on the preceding page, removing the last page automatically. Follow these steps:

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + 8 (on Windows) or Command + 8 (on macOS) to enable paragraph marks.
2. Select the paragraph mark on the last page. You may need to double-click to select it. Make the font size “01” in the formatting window and press the Enter key to move the paragraph to the preceding page, thus removing the last page. Hide the paragraph marks using the shortcuts mentioned in step 1.

5. Use Custom Margins

If the end paragraph doesn’t move to the previous page using the method described above, you must adjust the bottom margin size and make it smaller. That will fit the end-paragraph on the preceding page while removing the last page.

1. Go to the “Layout” tab in your document.

2. Click on “Margins” followed by “Custom Margins.”

3. The Page setup window will open. Keep the “Bottom” margin value something small, such as 0.3, and press the Enter key. Follow this by trying the above method.

Tip: in the Page setup window, go to the “Layout” tab and make sure “New page” is selected in the “Section start” drop-down box.

Also read:How to Edit Google Docs: The Best Tips You Need to Know

6. Remove Page Break Before

If the paragraph mark shows a square bullet next to it, you will need to disable the “Page break before” option in settings.

1. Enable the paragraph marks using Ctrl + Shift + 8 on Windows or Command + 8 on macOS.
2. Right-click on the paragraph mark and select the “Paragraph” option.

3. Go to the “Line and Page breaks” tab at the top. Uncheck the box next to “Page break before” and click “OK.”

7. Convert to PDF

If none of the methods above work to remove the last blank page, you should save it as a PDF document. This method will be especially useful in documents such as resumés.

1. In your Word document, go to “File -> Save as” and choose the location to save your PDF.
2. When the “Save as” window shows up, select “PDF” from the “Save as type” drop-down box and click the “Options” button.

3. Under the “Page range” section, click on “Page(s)” and enter the page range you want to keep in your document. For instance, if page 10 of your document is the last blank page, type “1” in “From” and “9” in “To.” Press “OK” followed by “Save.”

Tip: read on to learn how to convert a PDF to a Word document.

Also read:The Best Google Docs Templates to Organize Your Life

8. How to Delete a Page in Word for Web

To remove a page in Word for the Web, use PC method 1 above, i.e., using the Backspace key. However, if you are unable to delete the page using that method due to section or page breaks, you must open it in the Word desktop application.

For that, click on the “Editing” button in your online document and select “Open in desktop app,” then use the methods described above to delete a page.

9. How to Delete a Page in Word on Android and iPhone

On the Word mobile apps, press the Backspace key multiple times on blank pages until the cursor moves to the preceding page. That will delete the blank page.

If your page contains content, you must select the content and delete it using the Cut tool. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Long-press on the screen to go into selection mode. You will find two markers on the screen. Use them to first select the content you want to remove.

2. Tap on the Cut (Scissors) icon in the menu. Typically, that should delete the page as well.

3. If you are left with a blank page, tap the bottom of the page, then use the Backspace or Delete key to delete the page.

Unable to Delete Pages in Word?

If you are unable to delete pages in Word or the methods seem daunting, use the following two methods that work on all platforms.

Delete Page Using Online Tools

You can use an online tool like Aspose to remove blank pages from Word documents. Open this link in a browser and add the Word file. Mention the pages to remove in the available box and click “Remove pages.”

Create New Document

If you have fewer pages in your Word document, you should create a new document that does not contain any blank or unwanted pages. For that, copy content from each page manually to the new Word document without copying the blank or unwanted pages.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How can I recover a deleted Word page?

If you accidentally deleted the wrong page, use Ctrl + Z on Windows and Command + Z on macOS to recover the deleted page.

2. How can I delete multiple pages in Word?

Select the required pages in the document and click the Delete key, followed by the Backspace key to delete the blank page.

While you are removing content, find out how to delete images from Word. You may also want to learn how to convert Google Docs to Word and vice versa.