How to Delete an Empty Page in Microsoft Word

Empty pages in Word are one of those small frustrations that can waste a surprising amount of time. You know the page is blank, you know it shouldn't be there — but clicking on it and hitting Delete doesn't seem to do anything. That's because Word doesn't work quite the way you might expect when it comes to blank pages, and understanding why they appear is half the battle.

Why Empty Pages Appear in Word Documents

Word doesn't create blank pages arbitrarily. Every empty page exists because of something — usually invisible formatting. The most common culprits are:

• Paragraph marks (¶) — Word requires at least one paragraph mark to exist in a document. If an extra one gets pushed onto a new page, that page looks blank but isn't technically empty.
• Page breaks — A manual page break inserted via the ribbon or keyboard shortcut creates a new page, even if nothing is on it.
• Section breaks — These are sneakier. Section breaks control page layout, headers, footers, and columns. Deleting them carelessly can break your document's formatting.
• Table at the end of a document — When a table ends on the last page, Word automatically adds a paragraph mark after it that can't be deleted normally. This forces an extra blank page.

The fix in each case is slightly different, which is why a one-size approach rarely works.

Step 1: Make Hidden Formatting Visible

Before you can delete anything, you need to see what's actually on that empty page. Turn on formatting marks by pressing:

Ctrl + Shift + 8 (Windows) or ⌘ + 8 (Mac)

This reveals every paragraph mark, space, tab, and page break in your document. What looked like a blank page will now show you exactly what's holding it open.

How to Delete Different Types of Empty Pages

Deleting a Page Caused by an Extra Paragraph Mark

If you see one or more ¶ symbols on the empty page, click just to the left of the first one and press Backspace to remove it. Repeat for each extra mark. If the paragraph mark is on the very last page and won't delete, it's likely because it's required by Word — in that case, you can shrink it to near-invisibility by selecting it and reducing the font size to 1pt. The page should collapse.

Deleting a Page Caused by a Manual Page Break

With formatting marks visible, a manual page break appears as a dotted line labeled "Page Break." Click directly on that line to select it, then press Delete. The blank page disappears immediately.

Deleting a Page Caused by a Section Break

Section breaks look similar to page breaks but are labeled differently — "Section Break (Next Page)" being the most common type that creates a blank page. Be cautious here: deleting a section break merges the formatting of the two sections around it, which can unintentionally change margins, headers, or orientation.

If you're comfortable with that trade-off, click the section break line to select it and press Delete. If you want to preserve the formatting effect without the blank page, consider changing the section break type from Next Page to Continuous via Layout → Breaks.

Deleting the Blank Page After a Table

This is the trickiest case. When a table sits at the very end of a document, Word forces a paragraph mark after it — and that mark can spill onto a new page. You can't delete this mark outright, but you can make it so small it no longer creates a full page:

1. Select the paragraph mark after the table (with formatting marks visible)
2. Open the Font dialog box (Ctrl + D on Windows)
3. Set the font size to 1
4. If still needed, also go to Paragraph settings and set spacing before and after to 0pt, and line spacing to Fixed at 1pt

This effectively hides the mark without removing it, collapsing the blank page.

Using the Navigation Pane to Locate the Problem

If your document is long and you're not sure where the blank page is, use View → Navigation Pane and click the Pages tab. Word will display thumbnails of every page — blank ones are easy to spot. Click the thumbnail to jump directly to that page, then apply the relevant fix.

Factors That Affect Which Fix You Need

Not every blank page has the same cause, and a few variables shape which approach applies to your situation:

Your Word version matters too. The steps above apply broadly to Word 2016, 2019, Microsoft 365, and Word for Mac — but the exact menu locations can vary slightly. Word Online has more limited formatting control and may not let you manipulate section breaks the same way a desktop install does.

Document complexity is another factor. A simple one-page letter and a 50-page report with multiple sections, headers, and embedded tables are entirely different environments. What works cleanly in one may need more care in the other to avoid disrupting surrounding formatting.

The method that solves the problem in under ten seconds for one person may be the wrong starting point for another — depending on what's actually hiding on that blank page. 🔍