To delete a page in the middle of a Word document, place the cursor on that page, select its contents with Word’s Go To command, and press Delete. In Microsoft Word for Microsoft 365 on Windows, press Ctrl+G, enter \page, press Enter, close the dialog, and press Delete. Check the surrounding pages afterward: a page is created by content and formatting, not stored as a separate object, so you may need to remove a page break or fix a layout setting too.
What You’ll Need
- The Word document open in Microsoft Word. If the document matters, save a copy first with File > Save As so you can easily restore the original.
- The page number of the page you want to remove, if you know it. If not, scroll to the page and use a distinctive word on it to confirm you have the right place.
- A keyboard and mouse or trackpad. The Go To shortcut is Ctrl+G on Windows; in Word for Mac, use Option+Command+G. Menu labels and some shortcuts can vary slightly by Word version.
Step-by-Step
- Save a working copy and identify the page. Open the document and note the page number shown in Word’s status bar. If the page number is not visible, right-click the status bar and turn on Page Number. Check that the page you intend to remove is genuinely unwanted; deleting its contents can cause material later in the document to move up, which is normal. Use File > Save As to create a separate copy if you want to preserve the original unchanged.
- Go to the page in Word for Microsoft 365 on Windows. Click in the document, press Ctrl+G, and make sure the Go To tab is selected. In the Enter page number box, type
\pageand press Enter. Word selects the contents of the current page. Click Close to dismiss the Find and Replace dialog without clicking back into the document, because clicking in the text can cancel the selection. Press Delete once. If you prefer the ribbon, use Home > Find > Go To and enter the same command. - Use the Go To command on a Mac if needed. In Word for Mac, press Option+Command+G to open Go To, type
\page, and press Enter. Close the dialog and press Delete. If that shortcut is intercepted by macOS or does not open Go To in your version, use the ribbon’s Home > Find menu and choose Go To. The key idea is the same: select the page’s contents before deleting them, rather than deleting a page number or a heading alone. - For a short page, select its text manually if Go To is inconvenient. Click at the beginning of the first paragraph on the unwanted page. Hold Shift and click after the last character on that page to select a range, then press Delete. You can also drag from the start to the end of the content, but dragging is less reliable in a long document. Be careful at the page boundary: a selection that reaches into the next page can remove text you want to keep, while one that stops early may leave a blank page or an orphaned line.
- Show formatting marks if the page remains or appears blank. On Windows, press Ctrl+Shift+8; on Mac, press Command+8. You can also select the Show/Hide ¶ button on the Home tab. Word will display paragraph marks and labels for page and section breaks. Look at the end of the previous page and the start of the unwanted page. If you see a Page Break, click immediately before it and press Delete, or click immediately after it and press Backspace. Remove only the break that creates the page you want gone.
- Check section breaks and preserve the layout. If the page is separated by a Section Break, think before deleting it. A section break can control page orientation, margins, columns, headers, footers, or numbering. Deleting it may merge the sections and apply one section’s formatting to another. If the page must go, place the cursor just before the break and delete it, then inspect the pages around it and restore any changed settings from Layout or the Header & Footer tab. Save the document when the result looks right.
- Confirm the document has reflowed correctly. Scroll through the page before and after the deletion. Check headings, lists, tables, page numbers, headers, footers, and the final page. Turn off formatting marks with the same shortcut if you no longer need them. If the unwanted page still exists, do not keep pressing Delete at random; undo with Ctrl+Z on Windows or Command+Z on Mac, then use the troubleshooting steps below to find what is holding the page open.
Common Mistakes
Deleting a visible page number instead of the page. A page number is usually a field in the header or footer. Removing that number does not delete the page’s body text. Click in the document body and use Go To or select the unwanted content instead.
Removing a section break without checking its effects. A section break is not simply extra blank space. It can define different page orientation, margins, columns, or header and footer behavior. If deleting it changes the formatting on nearby pages, undo immediately and decide whether to keep the section and adjust its content another way.
Deleting just the text while leaving a manual break. A page may look empty but still contain a page break or paragraph mark that forces Word to start a new page. Turn on Show/Hide ¶ to see these nonprinting marks and remove the relevant break, not unrelated formatting.
Assuming the page number is the same as the physical page position. Documents can restart numbering in a section, use Roman numerals, or omit a number on the first page. Confirm the page by checking its text and surrounding content, especially when using Go To by number.
Tips
Use Ctrl+Z on Windows or Command+Z on Mac immediately if the wrong text disappears. Undo is safer than trying to reconstruct a deleted paragraph, table, or break by hand. Save after confirming the correction, and keep the backup copy until you have reviewed the document from the deleted page through the end.
For a document with many pages, Ctrl+G is usually faster and more precise than scrolling. Enter the page number to navigate to the area, then use \page to select that page’s contents. If the document uses restarted numbering, use a word or heading on the page to verify your position before deleting anything.
When a page is blank because of a paragraph mark after a table at the end of a document, Word may require that final paragraph mark. Rather than trying to delete it, show formatting marks, select the mark, and reduce its font size to 1 point. You can also set its paragraph spacing to zero. Make a small change and check the layout; changing margins or page size to hide one blank page may affect the entire document.
After removing the page, use Print Preview or File > Print to inspect how the document will paginate. This can reveal a nearly blank page, a heading left alone at the bottom of a page, or an unexpected change to a section’s page numbering before you share or print the file.
Troubleshooting
The Go To command does not select the page. Make sure you typed the backslash and the word page as \page in the Go To page-number field, then pressed Enter. Close the dialog using its Close button and check whether the page contents are selected. If your Word version behaves differently, turn on formatting marks and manually select the content from the first character to the last. Avoid clicking elsewhere after making the selection.
The page is still there after deleting its text. Show formatting marks and inspect the end of the preceding page. A manual Page Break, a Section Break (Next Page), or extra paragraph marks may be forcing Word to keep a new page. Remove the specific break or extra paragraphs. If a section break is involved, check the formatting of both sections after removal; undo if important layout settings change.
A blank page appears after a table. Word keeps a paragraph after a table, and that required mark can spill onto a new page if there is no room. Turn on ¶ marks, select the paragraph mark after the table, and set its font size to 1 point. If necessary, reduce its paragraph spacing or the table’s bottom spacing slightly. Do not delete the table or change the whole document’s page margins as a first fix.
Text from the next page disappeared too. Press Ctrl+Z or Command+Z right away. Then select only the target page with Go To or carefully select between its first and last characters. If a break separates the target from the next page, remove that break separately only after confirming it is not a section break needed for formatting.
Headers, footers, or page numbers changed. You likely removed a section break that controlled separate section formatting. Undo, then decide whether the section should remain. If it should, retain the break and remove the page’s text or adjust the break type or spacing. If merging sections is intentional, review the Header & Footer settings and page-number format for the affected sections.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I delete a page without affecting the pages around it?
Usually, yes, if you remove only that page’s contents and no section break that controls surrounding formatting. Word will reflow the remaining text, so later page breaks may shift. Review the adjacent pages afterward.
Why does Word not have a Delete Page button?
A Word page is a result of flowing text, breaks, and layout settings, rather than a separate object. You remove the page by deleting its contents or the break or formatting rule that forces it to exist.
Does Ctrl+G delete a page?
No. Ctrl+G opens Go To in Word for Windows. Entering \page selects the current page’s contents; you then close the dialog and press Delete. On Mac, the usual Go To shortcut is Option+Command+G.
How do I delete a blank page in the middle of a document?
Turn on Show/Hide ¶ from the Home tab and look for extra paragraph marks, a page break, or a section break. Remove the extra marks or the appropriate page break. Treat a section break carefully because it may control formatting.
Can I delete a page in Word on the web?
You can remove its text and visible page breaks in Word for the web, but the desktop app may offer more complete controls for section breaks and detailed formatting. If the page will not disappear or the layout changes unexpectedly, open the document in the desktop version and inspect formatting marks.
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