How to Delete a Blank Last Page in Microsoft Word Quickly

To delete a blank last page in Word, show formatting marks with Home > Paragraph > Show/Hide ¶, find the extra paragraph mark, page break, or section break at the end of the document, and remove or adjust it. If the page follows a table, Word may require the final paragraph mark; make that mark smaller instead of deleting it. Check the document’s layout afterward to make sure the fix has not changed formatting.

What You’ll Need

A copy of the document open in Microsoft Word. The steps below are for Word for Microsoft 365 on Windows; they also apply to many recent desktop versions.
Permission to edit the document. If it is read-only or protected, you may need to save an editable copy or ask the document owner to unlock it.
A moment to check the pages before and after the blank one. Removing a section break can change headers, footers, page numbering, or orientation.

Step-by-Step

Save a copy before changing the layout. Choose File > Save As and save a working copy if the document is important or its formatting is complex. This is especially useful before changing a section break, because that break can control layout across several pages. If the file is stored in OneDrive or SharePoint, confirm that your changes have finished syncing before closing Word.
Turn on formatting marks. On Windows, open the Home tab and select Show/Hide ¶ in the Paragraph group. You can also press Ctrl+Shift+8 (the 8 key, not the numeric keypad). On Mac, choose Home > Show/Hide ¶ or press Command+8. Formatting marks are nonprinting symbols: they appear on screen but do not print. You will see paragraph marks (¶), page breaks, section breaks, and possibly spaces and tab symbols.
Go to the last page and inspect its contents. Scroll to the end of the document, or open View > Navigation Pane and use the page thumbnails to locate the final page. Look for marks that continue onto the blank page, not just marks elsewhere in the document. A page can look empty while still containing a paragraph mark, a manual page break, a section break, or an object anchor. Click near the end of the document and use the arrow keys if it is hard to place the cursor precisely.
Remove an extra paragraph mark if that is all that is there. If the final page contains one or more paragraph marks and no required break, click just before the extra mark and press Delete, or click after it and press Backspace. On a Mac, use Delete to delete the character to the right of the cursor, or Fn+Delete for forward delete on keyboards where that key is not available. Remove only the extra marks at the end; paragraph marks elsewhere may hold formatting or separate text into paragraphs. If deleting a mark merges text or changes paragraph styling, undo with Ctrl+Z (Windows) or Command+Z (Mac) and use a more targeted fix.
Delete a manual page break. If you see a line labeled Page Break, click immediately before it and press Delete, or click after it and press Backspace. The following content may move up, which is expected. Check the page before the former blank page to confirm that its text still reads correctly and that images or tables have not shifted into an unwanted position. A page break is different from a section break, so read the label before removing it.
Handle a section break carefully. A line labeled Section Break (Next Page) may be forcing a new page, but it can also define different headers, footers, page numbering, margins, or page orientation. Deleting it may merge the sections and apply one section’s layout to the other. If you need to keep the separate section formatting but do not want it to start on a new page, place the cursor in the section after the break and change its section start to Continuous. In Word for Windows, open the Layout tab, select the Page Setup dialog launcher, then use the Layout tab and set Section start to Continuous. On Mac, select the section after the break and use Layout > Breaks > Continuous if that option is available in your version. Review the resulting pages, since a continuous section cannot preserve every layout change in every situation.
Fix a blank page that follows a table. Word requires a paragraph mark after a table at the end of a document. That required mark may spill onto a new page if the table reaches the bottom margin. Do not try to remove the required mark. Click the paragraph mark immediately after the table, select it, and set its font size to 1 pt on the Home tab. If needed, open the Paragraph dialog and set spacing before and after to 0 pt. The mark should take up less room, allowing the blank page to disappear while leaving the table intact. If the mark is difficult to select, click just after the table and use the keyboard to move to it.
Check for paragraph pagination settings. Sometimes a paragraph mark is not itself the cause; a setting forces the final paragraph onto a new page. Select the final paragraph mark or the paragraph before the blank page, open the Home tab, and select the Paragraph dialog launcher. On Line and Page Breaks, check whether Page break before, Keep with next, or Keep lines together is forcing content forward. Clear a setting only if it is not needed for the document’s layout. Then close the dialog and see whether the page has moved.
Confirm the page is gone and restore a clean view. Check the page count and scroll to the end. If the page is gone, turn off Show/Hide with the same button or shortcut. Use File > Print to inspect print preview, then return to the document without printing if you only want to verify the layout. Look at the last page and the page before it, and save the document once the text, section formatting, and page numbering look right.

Common Mistakes

Deleting a section break without checking what it controls. A section break can be responsible for a landscape page, a different header, or restarted page numbers. Removing it may make the last page disappear but also change the pages before it. If the section’s layout matters, first try changing the section start to Continuous, or keep a saved copy so you can undo the change.

Assuming every blank page is caused by a page break. The cause may be several empty paragraphs, a section break, a table’s required final paragraph mark, or paragraph pagination settings. Turn on formatting marks and identify the label or symbol before editing. Deleting the wrong item can alter content or layout without addressing the actual cause.

Using repeated Backspace presses without watching the cursor. It is easy to remove the last character of real text or merge paragraphs when the cursor is in the wrong place. Make one change at a time, check the result, and use Undo immediately if the document changes unexpectedly.

Trying to erase the final paragraph mark after a table. Word keeps a paragraph after a table, so it may not be possible to delete that mark. Shrinking it to 1 pt and removing excess paragraph spacing is usually the more appropriate fix. Do not reduce the table’s font or delete table content unless that is what you intend.

Tips

Use the on-screen symbols to identify what is taking space. Paragraph marks and break labels make it much easier to distinguish an empty paragraph from a page or section break.
Make the smallest possible edit. Removing one unwanted break or adjusting one final paragraph is safer than selecting a whole page and deleting everything on it.
If there are many blank paragraphs, remove them one at a time and check how the document repaginates. Word automatically moves content between pages as the document changes.
Keep Show/Hide on while diagnosing, then turn it off when you are finished. These marks are not part of the printed document, but leaving them visible can make a file look cluttered to someone unfamiliar with them.
After any section change, check headers, footers, page numbers, margins, and orientation on both sides of the former break. Those settings can be different in each section.
For a document shared with other people, use Print preview as a final check. The page count in the editing view can be affected by zoom or window size, while preview shows how Word is laying out the pages for printing.

Troubleshooting

The blank page stays after deleting the visible paragraph mark. Turn Show/Hide back on and inspect for another mark, a manual page break, or a section break. Also check the paragraph just before the blank page for Page break before, Keep with next, or Keep lines together. If the last page follows a table, restore the required paragraph mark if necessary, then reduce it to 1 pt and set its paragraph spacing to zero.

The page disappears, but the headers or numbering change. Undo the deletion. The removed item was likely a section break. Restore it, then consider changing the following section’s start type to Continuous rather than deleting the break. Check the section’s headers and footers and whether Link to Previous is enabled; page numbering may also have a separate start value.

The page is still present in Print preview. The document may contain a break or paragraph setting that was missed, or a floating image or text box may be extending the layout. Turn on formatting marks and inspect the last page again. If there is an anchored object, select it and check its wrapping and position. Make a copy before moving or deleting an object because it may be part of the page’s design.

The blank page appears between pages, not at the end. The cause may be an odd-page or even-page section break, which can intentionally insert a blank page so a new section begins on a specific side. Inspect the section break and decide whether that layout is required before changing it. The same section-start options used for an unwanted final page may help, but verify the document’s intended page order.

You cannot edit the break or paragraph. Check whether editing is restricted or the file is open in read-only mode. In Word, review Review > Restrict Editing and the document’s status. You may need the password or permission from the owner. If the file is in compatibility mode or opened in a browser, open it in the desktop Word app for the full layout controls.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is there a blank last page in Word?
Usually, Word has an extra paragraph mark, a manual page break, a section break set to start on a new page, or a paragraph setting that pushes content forward. A table at the end can also push Word’s required final paragraph mark onto another page.

Can I delete a blank page without deleting the rest of the document?
Yes. Show formatting marks, identify the item creating the page, and remove or adjust only that item. Avoid selecting an entire page blindly, because Word’s page view does not always correspond to a single removable object.

Will a blank page show up when I print?
It can. If the page appears in Word’s print preview, it is part of the document’s print layout and may print. Check preview after making the change; formatting marks themselves do not print.

How do I remove a blank page after a table?
Keep the required paragraph mark after the table, select it, and set its font size to 1 pt. If the page remains, set the paragraph’s before-and-after spacing to zero and check the table’s position and page margins.

Does this work in Word for Mac?
Yes. The same causes and fixes apply. The main difference is the shortcut for showing formatting marks: use Command+8 on Mac rather than Ctrl+Shift+8 on Windows. Some Layout controls may be arranged differently by Word version.

Can I remove a blank page in Word for the web?
You can delete visible empty paragraphs or page breaks in Word for the web, but some section and page-layout controls are more limited than in the desktop app. If the blank page is caused by a section break or complex formatting, open the file in desktop Word and use the steps above.

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