How to Delete a Page in Word on Mac Without Losing Text

To delete a page in Word on Mac, select its contents with Go To, then press Delete; for a blank page, reveal formatting marks and remove the extra paragraph mark or page break creating it. This removes unwanted pages while helping preserve the text and layout around them. Before editing, save a copy if the document is important, and check whether the page contains content you want to keep.

What You’ll Need

Microsoft Word for Mac and the document you want to edit. The labels can vary slightly between Word versions, but the steps below apply to current Microsoft 365 Word for Mac.
A keyboard, if you want to use the Go To shortcut or show formatting marks. You can also use the ribbon and menus.
Optional: a duplicate of the document, especially if it contains complex layouts, tables, or tracked changes.

Step-by-Step

Save the document and identify the page. Open the file and note whether the page has text, images, a table, or is entirely blank. If you are unsure whether something on the page matters, save a separate copy first using File > Save As. Deleting a page removes its contents or the formatting mark that is keeping it in the document; it does not work like removing a detachable sheet from a PDF.
Use Go To to select a page with content. Click in the document, then press Option+Command+G. In the Go To dialog, choose Page if necessary, enter \page in the page-number field, and press Return. Word selects the contents of the current page. Close the dialog, then check the selection in the document before deleting it. If you opened Go To while the cursor was on a different page, use the page field to navigate to the page you intend to remove first, then select its contents with the page command.
Delete the selected page contents. When the correct page’s contents are highlighted, press the Delete key on your Mac keyboard. Check the pages before and after it: Word reflows text as it removes material, so the page that disappears may not be the same numbered page afterward. If you selected a heading or paragraph that should remain, immediately press Command+Z to undo, then make a narrower selection.
Show hidden formatting marks for a blank page. Click Home > ¶ on the ribbon, or press Command+8. The marks Word displays are not printed; they reveal paragraph breaks, page breaks, and section breaks that affect pagination. Look on the unwanted page and at the end of the page before it. A blank page is often held open by one extra paragraph mark, a manual page break, or a section break.
Remove an extra paragraph mark. If the blank page contains only a paragraph symbol (¶), click just before that mark and press Delete, or click after it and press the Delete key to remove it. On a Mac, the key labelled Delete usually removes the character to the left of the cursor. If you need to delete the character in front of the cursor, use Fn+Delete on many Mac keyboards. Take care not to remove a paragraph mark that carries formatting you need for the preceding text.
Remove a manual page break. If you see the words Page Break, click immediately before the break and press Delete, or click immediately after it and use Fn+Delete. The content that followed the break will move up. If that content should still start on a new page, leave the break in place and investigate another cause, such as a section break or paragraph pagination setting.
Check section breaks before deleting them. A Section Break (Next Page), Section Break (Odd Page), or Section Break (Even Page) can intentionally start a new section and may create a blank page. Deleting it can change headers, footers, page numbering, margins, or orientation because sections hold those settings. If you are confident it is unwanted, place the cursor immediately before the break and press Delete, then inspect the surrounding pages. If the layout changes unexpectedly, use Command+Z and adjust the section settings or choose a different break type instead.
Handle a blank page after a table. Word requires a paragraph after a table, and that final paragraph can spill onto a new page if the table fills the page. Turn on ¶ marks and select the paragraph symbol directly after the table. Reduce its font size, for example to 1 pt, or set its paragraph spacing to zero using the Paragraph settings. Do not delete the required paragraph mark if Word will not allow it; make it small enough to fit on the previous page instead.
Hide formatting marks and verify the result. Press Command+8 again or click Home > ¶ to turn off the marks. Review the document in Print Layout and, if available in your version, use File > Print to preview the pages. Confirm that the unwanted page is gone and that no nearby text, table, header, footer, or numbering has been lost. Save the file when the layout looks right.

Common Mistakes

Deleting content when you meant to remove a blank sheet: Go To selects page contents, so using it on a page with text will remove that text. For an apparently empty page, reveal formatting marks first and remove the cause of the extra page instead.

Removing the wrong break: A section break is not the same as an ordinary page break. Removing a section break may merge the sections and apply different header, footer, numbering, or page-layout settings. Check the label beside the mark before pressing Delete.

Assuming the page number stays fixed: Word continuously repaginates. After deleting a page, later pages move up and acquire new numbers. Verify the content and layout, not just the old page number.

Using the wrong Delete direction: On many Mac keyboards, Delete works like Backspace on a Windows keyboard. If the cursor is after a break and Delete seems to remove the previous character instead, undo and use Fn+Delete to remove the break in front of the cursor.

Forgetting that tracked changes may be involved: In a document with Track Changes enabled, deletions may appear as revisions instead of disappearing immediately. Review the markup and accept or reject changes only as appropriate; do not accept all revisions unless you intend to finalize them.

Tips

Save before removing section breaks or making several layout changes. Command+Z can undo a recent edit, but it is easier to compare with a saved copy when a document has complicated formatting. If the file is shared, check whether another person is editing it before changing page structure.

When deleting a page with content, select only what you mean to remove. A page can end partway through a paragraph or contain an anchored image whose position depends on nearby text. After deleting, inspect the paragraphs on both sides of the selection and check that images and captions remain where expected.

Use the Navigation Pane to locate a page or heading when a document is long: open View > Navigation Pane, then browse the headings or search for distinctive text. The pane helps you find content, but it does not itself delete a page. Use Go To or select the relevant content in the document once you have located it.

If you need to remove many pages, work through them one at a time and verify the layout after each deletion. This makes it easier to identify which change caused a header, page number, or section layout to shift. Keep formatting marks on while diagnosing blank pages, then turn them off for normal reading.

Troubleshooting

The page is still there after pressing Delete: Turn on formatting marks and inspect the bottom of the preceding page and the blank page itself. There may be more than one paragraph mark, a manual break, or a section break. Remove only the extra mark or break, then check the pagination again. If the page follows a table, resize the final paragraph mark as described above.

Go To does not select the page you expected: Make sure the cursor is on the intended page before using the page-selection command, and confirm that the page number displayed in the dialog is correct. Close the dialog and look at the highlighted area before pressing Delete. If the shortcut does not open Go To in your Word version, use the macOS menu bar’s Edit > Find > Go To command, or locate Go To from Word’s Find controls.

Deleting a section break changes the layout: Press Command+Z immediately. The break may be controlling page orientation, margins, headers, footers, or numbering. Keep it, and instead remove any extra paragraph mark or adjust the section’s start settings. If you must change the break, compare the section formatting before and after, including the header and footer links.

The blank page appears only in print preview: Check for an Odd Page or Even Page section break, which can intentionally insert a blank page so a section begins on the required side. Also check paper size and margins under Layout. Do not delete a break that is needed for the document’s print layout; change the section start setting only if the document’s intended pagination allows it.

The page returns after editing: A nearby paragraph may be set to start on a new page or stay with the next paragraph. Select the paragraph that moves, open Format > Paragraph, and review the Line and Page Breaks options. Clear a setting only if it is not needed for the layout. In a shared or tracked document, also check whether revisions or another editor’s changes are affecting pagination.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Mac shortcut for deleting a page in Word?

There is no single shortcut that safely deletes every kind of page. Option+Command+G opens Go To; use the page-selection method and press Delete after checking the selection. Command+8 toggles formatting marks so you can diagnose blank pages.

Can I delete a page without deleting its text?

A page is a position created by the document’s contents and layout, not an independent object. To remove a blank page, delete the extra paragraph mark or break causing it. To remove a page with content while keeping that content, move or reformat the content rather than deleting it.

Why does Word add a blank page after a table?

Word keeps a paragraph mark after a table. If the table reaches the bottom margin, that required mark may move to a new page. Show formatting marks and make the final paragraph smaller or reduce its spacing so it fits on the page with the table.

Does deleting a page remove its header and footer?

Headers and footers belong to sections, not to a single page in the same way body text does. Deleting page contents usually does not remove a section’s header or footer, but deleting a section break can merge sections and change which header or footer is used. Check those areas after editing.

How do I delete a page in Word for Mac if the shortcut differs?

Use Word’s menus instead of relying on a shortcut: open Edit > Find > Go To if that command is available in your version, then select the page and verify the highlighted content. For a blank page, use Home > ¶ and remove the extra mark or break. Windows commonly uses Ctrl+G for Go To; Mac uses Option+Command+G.

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

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Sources: Function behaviour and menu paths: Microsoft Support documentation for Excel. Method & sources

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