Delete a Page Break in Word: Manual and Automatic Breaks

To delete a manual page break in Word, show formatting marks, click immediately before the line labeled Page Break, and press Delete; if the cursor is immediately after it, press Backspace. An automatic page break is different: Word inserts it as text fills a page, so fix the paragraph or layout settings that are pushing the text forward rather than trying to delete the break itself.

What kind of page break is in your document?

Word uses page breaks to control where one page ends and the next begins, but not every page transition is a removable character. Knowing which kind you have prevents you from deleting the wrong thing or wasting time looking for a break that is not there.

Manual page break: A break inserted by a person, usually with the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Enter on Windows. It appears as a Page Break marker when formatting marks are visible, and you can remove it.
Automatic page break: A boundary Word creates when the next line or paragraph will not fit in the remaining space. It is part of pagination, not a character in the document.
Section break: A boundary that starts a new section, sometimes on a new page. It can affect page orientation, margins, headers, footers, columns, and page numbering, so deleting it may change more than pagination.

A blank page can result from any of these, but it can also come from an extra paragraph mark, a table at the end of a document, or paragraph pagination settings. Identify the marker or setting before removing anything.

Show and remove a manual page break

Formatting marks make hidden layout characters visible on screen; they do not print. In Word for Microsoft 365 on Windows, open the Home tab and select the paragraph symbol, Show/Hide ¶. The Windows shortcut is Ctrl+Shift+8. On a Mac, use the Show/Hide control on the Home tab or press Command+8.

With marks displayed, scroll to the unwanted break. Word labels a manual one Page Break, typically between two horizontal dotted lines. Click just before the label and press Delete. Alternatively, click just after the break and press Backspace. The text that followed the break will move up, and the document may repaginate.

You can also select the break marker itself and press Delete or Backspace. If that is difficult, click at the start of the paragraph that begins on the next page and press Backspace once, then check the result. Be careful not to press repeatedly: another Backspace can delete a paragraph mark or text and join paragraphs that you meant to keep separate.

On Mac keyboards, the key labeled Delete generally works like Backspace on a Windows keyboard. To delete forward from a cursor positioned before a break, use Fn+Delete on many Mac keyboards. You can avoid the key-label confusion by placing the cursor after the marker and using Delete, or by selecting the marker and removing it.

Find page breaks in a long document

When a document has many pages, scrolling through it with Show/Hide turned on may be slow. In Word for Windows, press Ctrl+H to open Find and Replace. In the Find what box, enter ^m, the code Word uses to find a manual page break. Leave Replace with empty and choose Find Next to inspect each match before removing it, or choose Replace All if you intend to remove every manual page break.

Use Replace All carefully. A page break may intentionally separate a title page, chapter, or appendix, and removing all of them can make the document harder to read. Save a copy first if you are unsure, or remove matches one at a time so you can review the layout after each change. The Replace interface and keyboard shortcuts can differ on Mac; use Word’s Home tab and Replace command if Ctrl+H is not appropriate for your keyboard.

The code ^m is for manual page breaks, not every kind of break. Section breaks use a different code and have formatting consequences; do not substitute a section-break code or run a broad replacement unless you know what those sections control.

When the break is automatic

If Show/Hide is on and there is no Page Break marker, Word may simply be moving content to the next page because the current page is full. Deleting text above it, changing the page layout, or adjusting paragraph settings may change where the content falls, but there is no manual break character to remove.

A common cause is a paragraph setting. Select the paragraph that starts on the unwanted page, then go to Home > Paragraph and select the small dialog box launcher in the Paragraph group. Open the Line and Page Breaks tab and review these options:

Page break before forces the selected paragraph to begin on a new page. Clear it if that forced start is unintended.
Keep with next keeps the selected paragraph on the same page as the paragraph after it. This is useful for headings, but a chain of paragraphs with this setting can push a large block to the next page.
Keep lines together prevents a paragraph from splitting across pages. A long paragraph may therefore move as a unit.
Widow/Orphan control keeps a single line of a paragraph from being stranded at the top or bottom of a page. It can shift a few lines and is normally a helpful layout setting.

For example, if a heading appears alone at the bottom of a page and its body text begins on the next page, Keep with next is likely working as intended. Removing it might make the heading fit, but could leave the heading separated from its text. First decide whether the layout rule is unwanted or whether the document needs a small edit to fit more naturally.

Remove a section break with care

With formatting marks visible, a section boundary is labeled with wording such as Section Break (Next Page), Section Break (Continuous), or another section-break type. A Next Page section break can look like the reason a blank page appears, but it may also be setting up a new chapter’s layout.

Deleting a section break joins the sections on either side. The combined section can take on section formatting from the section that follows the break, which may alter margins, orientation, columns, headers and footers, or page-number settings. For instance, removing a break before a landscape table might cause nearby pages to become landscape too, or change which header appears.

If you decide the section break is unnecessary, save a copy, turn on Show/Hide, select the section-break marker, and delete it. Then inspect the pages before and after the change, including headers, footers, and numbering. If the goal is only to remove a blank page while retaining different section formatting, do not automatically delete the section break; adjust the section setup or the content around it instead.

Fix a blank page at the end of a document

An extra blank page at the end does not always contain a page break. Show formatting marks and look for an extra paragraph mark (¶), a manual break, or a table that reaches the bottom of the preceding page. A table must be followed by a paragraph mark in Word, and that final mark can be pushed onto a new page if there is not enough room.

If the final paragraph mark is causing the extra page, select that mark and reduce its font size or paragraph spacing, or adjust the preceding table so the mark fits. You can also check whether the last paragraph has Page break before or an unexpected keep setting enabled. Avoid deleting the paragraph mark blindly: Word requires a paragraph after a table, and removing other paragraph marks can merge text or change formatting.

If the blank page is between sections, inspect the section-break label and its type. A Next Page break deliberately starts the next section on a new page. Changing it to a continuous break may be suitable in some layouts, but a continuous section cannot always preserve every layout change in the same way. Review the document after changing section structure.

Why deleting a break can change the layout

Removing a manual break does not simply erase an empty page; it allows the following text to flow into the space above. The text may now share a page with a heading, image, table, or caption that was deliberately kept apart. Later pages can also shift, changing page numbers and the apparent position of figures. This is normal repagination, not necessarily a sign that the deletion failed.

Before changing a polished document, consider whether the break marks a meaningful boundary. A manual break before a new chapter can be intentional even if the previous page has spare room. If the document uses an automatically generated table of contents, update it after substantial pagination changes so its page numbers match the revised layout.

For future documents, use a deliberate page break where a new page is required instead of pressing Enter repeatedly to push text down. To insert one in Word for Windows, press Ctrl+Enter; in Word for Mac, use Command+Enter. A real break is easier to identify and maintain than a stack of empty paragraphs, though it should still be removed when the page division is no longer wanted.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the shortcut to delete a page break in Word?
There is no special delete-break shortcut. Turn on Show/Hide, place the cursor before a manual break, and press Delete, or place it after the break and press Backspace. On Mac, the forward-delete key combination is commonly Fn+Delete.

Why can’t I see the page break in Word?
It may be an automatic page boundary rather than a manual break. Turn on Show/Hide from the Home tab and inspect the relevant paragraph’s Line and Page Breaks settings. A section break may also be responsible and is labeled separately.

How do I remove all manual page breaks at once?
In Word for Windows, open Ctrl+H, enter ^m in Find what, leave Replace with empty, and select Replace All. Review the document afterward; this removes intentional breaks too and can change the flow of chapters or other sections.

Will deleting a section break delete my text?
Deleting the break normally joins the text and sections rather than deleting the text, but it can change section formatting, including orientation, headers, footers, and numbering. Save a copy and check the surrounding pages before and after.

How do I delete a blank last page in Word?
Show formatting marks and identify what is creating it: a manual break, an extra paragraph mark, a final table, or a section setting. Remove or adjust the cause rather than repeatedly pressing Backspace, which can delete needed paragraph structure.

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

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