How to Delete a Blank Page in Word (And Why It Keeps Coming Back)

Few things are more frustrating than finishing a document in Microsoft Word, scrolling to the end, and finding a stubborn blank page that refuses to disappear. Whether it shows up at the end of a report, between sections, or after a table, that extra page can throw off your formatting, printing, and page count. Here's what's actually causing it — and how to get rid of it.

Why Blank Pages Appear in Word

Before you can fix the problem, it helps to know what you're actually dealing with. Blank pages in Word are almost never truly "empty" — they contain hidden formatting characters that Word treats as content.

The most common culprits:

• Extra paragraph marks (¶) — Every time you press Enter, Word inserts a paragraph mark. If you've pressed Enter one too many times at the end of a document, you get a blank page.
• Manual page breaks — Pressing Ctrl+Enter inserts a hard page break. If one ends up in the wrong place, it forces a new page.
• Section breaks — These are used to separate different formatting zones in a document. Some section break types (especially "Next Page" section breaks) can generate blank pages if placed incorrectly.
• Post-table paragraph marks — Word always inserts a paragraph mark after a table. If a table sits at the very bottom of a page, that trailing paragraph mark can spill onto a new page — and it can't be deleted outright.

Step 1: Turn On Formatting Marks

The single most useful thing you can do is make the invisible visible. Go to Home → Paragraph group and click the ¶ (Show/Hide) button, or press Ctrl+Shift+8. This reveals every paragraph mark, page break, and section break in your document.

Now you can actually see what's generating that blank page.

Step 2: Delete Extra Paragraph Marks

If the blank page is caused by extra paragraph marks, click at the beginning of the blank page and start pressing Backspace until those marks disappear. You may need to delete several of them.

If the marks won't delete — or if deleting them breaks your formatting elsewhere — the issue is likely something more structural.

Step 3: Remove a Manual Page Break

If you see the words "Page Break" on a line with a dotted border, that's your problem. Click directly on that line to place your cursor there, then press Delete (or Backspace). The page break will be removed and the blank page will collapse.

Step 4: Handle Section Breaks Carefully ⚠️

Section breaks are trickier. They control formatting for the section above them — including margins, headers, footers, columns, and page orientation. Deleting a section break merges the two sections, which means the section above will inherit the formatting of the section below.

To delete a section break:

1. Click directly on the section break line (visible with formatting marks turned on)
2. Press Delete

If deleting it causes formatting chaos — like your landscape page suddenly switching back to portrait — you'll need to either restore the section break or adjust the formatting manually afterward. This is a common trade-off that depends on how your document is structured.

Step 5: The Post-Table Blank Page Fix

This one catches a lot of people off guard. If a table ends at the bottom of a page, Word forces a paragraph mark after it that can't be deleted normally. Trying to select and delete it usually does nothing.

The workaround: select that paragraph mark, then reduce its font size to 1pt. This makes it so small that it no longer pushes onto a new page. You can also try setting its line spacing to 0pt (Line Spacing Options → Fixed → 0pt) or marking it as Hidden text (Format → Font → Hidden checkbox) — though hidden text will still print unless you adjust your print settings.

How Word Version and Document Type Affect This 🖥️

The methods above work across most modern versions of Word — including Word 2016, 2019, Word for Microsoft 365, and Word for Mac — but the interface varies slightly.

Documents also vary significantly. A simple single-section document with a few paragraphs is easy to fix. A complex document with multiple sections, mixed page orientations, embedded tables, tracked changes, and custom styles can make blank page removal genuinely complicated — especially if changes in one place ripple through the formatting elsewhere.

The Variables That Determine Your Fix

Which method works for you depends on:

• What's generating the blank page — paragraph marks, page breaks, and section breaks each require a different approach
• Where the blank page appears — end of document, between sections, or after a table each have different causes
• How complex your document structure is — simple documents are straightforward; multi-section documents with mixed formatting need more care
• Which platform you're using — desktop Word gives you the most control; Word Online has real limitations

Someone cleaning up a simple one-page letter will fix this in ten seconds. Someone managing a 60-page formatted report with custom section layouts may need to troubleshoot more carefully — deleting that blank page without understanding what's holding it there can shift margins, break headers, or reformat entire sections.

Turning on formatting marks first isn't optional — it's what tells you which of these scenarios you're actually in.