How to Delete a Page in Word Without Losing Text

To delete a page in a Word document, remove the text and other content on it, or remove the page break or extra paragraph that is creating a blank page. In Word for Microsoft 365 on Windows, press Ctrl+G, enter \page, and delete the selected page content; for a blank page, show formatting marks first so you can identify what is forcing it to remain. Save a copy before making major layout changes, especially if the document contains section breaks.

What You’ll Need

A Word document that you can edit. If it is read-only or protected, you may need permission or the password to make changes.
Microsoft Word for Microsoft 365 on Windows or Mac. The steps also work in many recent desktop versions, although ribbon labels can vary slightly.
Optional: a copy of the document if you want a safe version to return to after removing content or changing layout.

Step-by-Step

Save a working copy and identify the page. Open the document and scroll to the page you want to remove. Check the page number and look at what is on the page: ordinary text, a table or image, or no visible content. If you are unsure whether the page is truly blank, turn on formatting marks in step 3. To protect the original, choose File > Save As and give the working copy a different name. This is particularly useful for documents with carefully formatted sections, headers, footers, or page numbering.
Select the page’s contents with Go To. Click somewhere on the page you want to delete. In Word for Microsoft 365 on Windows, press Ctrl+G to open the Go To tab of the Find and Replace dialog. In the Enter page number box, type \page, then press Enter. Word selects the contents of the current page. Click Close to dismiss the dialog while keeping the selection. On a Mac, press Option+Command+G to open Go To, enter \page, press Return, and close the dialog. If the shortcut differs in your version, use Home > Find > Go To on Windows, or the Edit menu’s Find/Go To command on Mac.
Check what is selected before deleting. Look at the highlighted area in the document. Confirm that it covers the intended page and does not include text you want to keep. Word pages are created by flowing content, not stored as separate objects, so deleting a page means deleting its contents or the formatting mark that pushes content onto another page. For a page containing a table, picture, or other object, make sure that item is included in the selection. If the selection is incomplete, press Escape or click elsewhere and select the content manually with the mouse or keyboard.
Delete the selected content. Press Delete on Windows or Mac. The page should disappear, and later content will move up to fill the space. If you selected text that you might need, press Ctrl+Z on Windows or Command+Z on Mac immediately to undo, then check the selection and try again. Review the pages before and after the removed page: text may reflow, images may move, and page numbers may change. Save the document once the result looks right.
Remove an unwanted blank page by showing formatting marks. If the page has no visible text, click Home > Show/Hide ¶ on Windows or Mac. You can also use Ctrl+Shift+8 on Windows or Command+8 on Mac. The marks reveal paragraph symbols, manual page breaks, and section breaks that normally do not print. On the blank page, select the extra paragraph mark or the manual Page Break and press Delete or Backspace. If a paragraph mark at the end of the preceding page is causing an extra page, place the cursor before that mark and press Delete, or select the mark and remove it. Turn Show/Hide off when finished; the marks are not printed.
Handle section breaks and tables carefully. If a blank page is caused by a section break, pause before deleting it. A section break can control margins, orientation, columns, headers, footers, and page numbering. Removing it may apply the next section’s layout to the content before it. If you need to keep the layout, consider changing the break type instead: open Layout > Breaks and choose a suitable continuous or next-page option for the section. If a document ends with a table, Word requires a paragraph after the table. If that paragraph spills onto a new page, select its paragraph mark and reduce its font size to 1 pt or set its spacing to zero rather than trying to delete the required mark.
Verify the document and save it. Scroll through the pages around the deletion and check that no wanted text, header, footer, or section formatting has changed. Use File > Print or Print Preview to confirm the page count and check for unexpected blank sheets. Save with Ctrl+S on Windows or Command+S on Mac. If the result is wrong, undo while the change is still recent, or reopen the copy you saved before editing.

Common Mistakes

Deleting without checking the selection: Go To selects page content, but a page boundary is not a separate object. Content can flow across boundaries, and deleting a selection that extends farther than expected can remove text from a neighboring page. Inspect the highlight before pressing Delete.
Using Backspace repeatedly on a blank page: This may remove paragraphs or formatting from the previous page without revealing the cause. Turn on Show/Hide first and remove the specific paragraph mark or break responsible.
Deleting a section break as if it were an ordinary page break: Section breaks can preserve different headers, footers, page orientation, or numbering. Removing one can change the layout of a large part of the document. Save a copy and check section formatting before changing it.
Expecting the Navigation pane to delete a page: The pane is useful for finding a page or heading, but it does not remove a page as a single object. Find the page’s contents and delete those, or remove the formatting mark making an empty page.
Deleting the final paragraph after a table: Word keeps a paragraph after a table. If it creates a blank page, shrink or adjust that paragraph instead of trying to remove the required paragraph mark.

Tips

Use Print Layout view to see page boundaries clearly. Choose View > Print Layout if the document is in another view.
For a short page, selecting the content with the mouse can be easier than Go To. Start before the first character, drag through the last item, and check that the selection does not include content to keep.
If you are deleting an entire page that contains mixed content, click within it and use Go To with \page, then inspect the selection. This is usually faster than selecting each paragraph, image, and line separately.
Use Undo promptly if the result is not right: Ctrl+Z on Windows and Command+Z on Mac. Undo is less dependable after closing the document or making many later edits, so a saved copy is useful for important files.
After removing a page, check the document’s page numbers and any table of contents. Word may update page numbering automatically, but a table of contents generally needs updating: right-click it and choose Update Field, then select whether to update page numbers or the entire table.

Troubleshooting

The page is still there after I delete its text. Turn on Show/Hide ¶ and inspect both the blank page and the end of the previous page. A manual page break, section break, or extra paragraph mark may be forcing the page to remain. Remove only the mark you understand. If it is a section break, check its effect on headers, footers, orientation, and numbering before deleting or changing it.

Go To does not select the page I expected. Click in the target page before opening Go To, then enter \page in the page-number field. If the document has changed since you noted the page number, locate it again by its heading or nearby text. You can also select the contents manually. Remember that the page number shown in Word may differ from the printed page number when the document uses title pages or restarted numbering.

Deleting a break changes the layout. Press Undo immediately. Then show formatting marks and identify whether the mark is a page break or a section break. A page break simply starts content on a new page; a section break may carry layout settings. If you need to keep separate formatting, change the section-break type through Layout > Breaks rather than removing it blindly, and inspect the result in Print Layout.

The selection will not delete, or the document is protected. Check whether Word displays a Protected View banner, read-only status, or an editing restriction. If you trust the file, choose Enable Editing where available. For a restricted document, use Review > Restrict Editing to see whether protection is active; you may need the document owner or password to remove it. Do not save over the only copy while trying unfamiliar settings.

A table leaves one stubborn blank page. Click after the table and turn on paragraph marks. Select the final paragraph symbol and set its font size to 1 pt; if needed, open the paragraph settings and reduce spacing before and after. This keeps Word’s required paragraph while reducing the chance that it will occupy a separate page. Recheck Print Preview afterward.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I delete a page in Word without deleting its text?
Not if the page contains text that must remain in the document; Word does not treat pages as independent removable objects. You can move the content elsewhere, change pagination, or remove an empty page by fixing its break or extra paragraph mark.

How do I delete a blank page at the end of a Word document?
Turn on Show/Hide ¶, then remove an extra paragraph mark or manual page break at the end. If the document ends with a table, shrink the required paragraph after it to 1 pt instead of trying to delete it.

Does deleting a page in Word work the same on Mac?
The method is the same: select the page’s contents or remove the mark creating a blank page. On Mac, use Option+Command+G for Go To and Command+8 to show formatting marks; Windows uses Ctrl+G and Ctrl+Shift+8.

Will removing a page change page numbers?
Usually, following pages are renumbered automatically, but documents with section-specific numbering can behave differently. Check headers, footers, and the printed page numbers after deletion, and update the table of contents if the document has one.

Can I recover a page after deleting it?
Use Ctrl+Z on Windows or Command+Z on Mac immediately after the deletion. If you have continued editing or closed the file, recovery may be difficult; a saved copy or version history, when available, may help restore the earlier content.

Try it: the Date Difference Calculator: days, months, years and weekdays between two dates, with the DATEDIF formulas.

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