How to Delete a Cover Page in Word

To delete a built-in cover page in Word for Microsoft 365 on Windows, select Insert > Pages > Cover Page > Remove Current Cover Page. If the page was made manually, select and remove its contents and any page break without deleting the rest of your document. Save a copy first if the file has complex formatting, then check the first page and page numbering after the change.

What You’ll Need

The Word document you want to edit, opened in the Word desktop app if possible.
Editing permission. If the document is protected or read-only, you may need permission or an editable copy before you can remove anything.
A few minutes to check the document’s layout after the cover page is gone. A separate copy is a sensible precaution for documents with section breaks, headers, footers, or carefully arranged images.

Step-by-Step

Open the document and identify how its cover page was made. Go to the beginning of the document with Ctrl+Home on Windows. Look at the first page and click in its text or design. If Word recognizes it as one of its built-in cover-page designs, the gallery removal command is usually the cleanest option. If the page is a collection of ordinary text, pictures, shapes, or a manually inserted page break, plan to remove those items individually instead. A page that looks like a cover page is not necessarily a built-in cover page.
Save a working copy if the layout matters. Choose File > Save As and create a copy, or save the current document before editing. This makes it easier to recover if removing a break changes the layout of later pages. For a document stored in OneDrive or SharePoint, you can also use version history if it is available, but do not rely on that instead of understanding what you are deleting.
Remove a built-in cover page with the gallery command. Click the Insert tab. In the Pages group, select Cover Page, then choose Remove Current Cover Page at the bottom of the gallery. Word removes the recognized cover-page element and keeps the rest of the document. Review the page that now appears first; depending on the document, it may be a title page, an introduction, or a page that was already numbered as page two.
If the command is unavailable, check the Mac or web version. In Word for Mac, open the document in the desktop app and use Insert > Cover Page, then choose Remove Current Cover Page if that command appears in the gallery. Ribbon labels and arrangement can differ slightly by Word release. Word for the web may not show the same cover-page gallery controls. If the command is missing, open the file in the desktop app, or remove a manually created page using the steps below. Do not assume that a blank-looking gallery command has removed a page; verify the document itself.
For a custom cover page, select only the items on that page. Click near the start of the cover-page text and drag to select the cover page’s text, or select individual text boxes, pictures, and shapes and delete them. If the page contains floating objects, click an object and use the contextual Shape Format or Picture Format tab to locate the selection controls; the Selection Pane can help identify objects that are difficult to click. Remove only the objects belonging to the cover page. Do not select all the document text, and take care not to delete a header, footer, or logo that should continue on later pages.
Remove the extra page break only if one remains. Turn on formatting marks to see hidden breaks: press Ctrl+Shift+8 on Windows, or Command+8 on Mac. Look at the end of the former cover page and the start of the next page. If you see a standalone Page Break between them, click just before it and press Delete, or click just after it and press Backspace. A paragraph mark is not automatically a page break; do not remove surrounding paragraph marks indiscriminately. Press the formatting-marks shortcut again when you are finished to hide the marks.
Check section breaks before changing them. A line marked Section Break (Next Page) is different from a regular page break. It may control different headers, footers, page numbering, margins, or page orientation. Deleting it can make the following section adopt formatting from the preceding section. If the former cover page has a section break, first check the header, footer, and layout of the pages after it. Leave the break in place if it is needed to preserve those settings; remove it only when you understand the formatting change it will cause.
Review the new first page and save. Scroll through the start of the document and confirm there is no blank page, that the intended content now starts first, and that the text and images are in the right order. Check page numbers, headers, and footers, especially if the cover page had a different first-page header or numbering setup. Save the edited file with Ctrl+S on Windows or Command+S on Mac.

Common Mistakes

Deleting the first page’s content but leaving its break. The page may look empty while still occupying a page because a page break or section break remains. Turn on formatting marks and inspect the boundary before removing anything else.
Deleting the wrong page break. A break later in the document can be easy to mistake for the one after the cover. Check that the visible break sits immediately after the cover-page material, and review the pages that follow after deleting it.
Removing a section break without checking what it controls. This can change page numbering, headers, footers, orientation, or margins. Treat section breaks as layout controls, not as ordinary blank lines.
Selecting too much content. Using Ctrl+A or dragging across several pages can remove the document body rather than just the cover. Select the cover’s individual content, or use the built-in removal command when available.
Assuming the first page must show page number 1. A document can start numbering on a later page or suppress the number on its first page. Removing the cover may expose a different number, but that does not necessarily mean Word has renumbered the document incorrectly.

Tips

Use the built-in removal command first. It is designed for cover pages inserted from Word’s gallery and is less likely than manual deletion to leave behind part of the cover design.
Keep formatting marks visible while diagnosing blank pages. The paragraph mark, page break, and section break are different things. Seeing which one is present is more reliable than repeatedly pressing Delete.
Check headers and footers in context. Double-click the header or footer area on the first remaining page. If it differs from later pages, check whether Different First Page or section-specific linking is affecting what you see before changing the settings.
Use Print Layout for a realistic page check. Choose View > Print Layout if you are in another view. Page boundaries and unwanted blank pages are easier to inspect there than in a simplified reading view.
Preserve the original if the document is shared. Save a new copy or confirm that you have permission to make structural changes. A quick comparison with the original can reveal a lost logo, altered footer, or unexpected pagination.

Troubleshooting

The Remove Current Cover Page option is missing. The first page may be a custom design rather than a cover page inserted from Word’s gallery, or you may be using a version that does not expose the same command. Try opening the file in Word for Microsoft 365 on Windows or the Mac desktop app. If it is custom, remove its text and objects manually and check for a break afterward.

The cover page is gone, but a blank page remains. Turn on formatting marks and inspect the end of the page before the blank one. Delete a redundant page break if it is there. If the blank page follows a table, Word may require a final paragraph after the table; reduce that paragraph’s font size or spacing rather than deleting the table. If a section break is involved, check its formatting role before removing it.

Deleting the break changes later pages. Undo immediately with Ctrl+Z on Windows or Command+Z on Mac, then inspect the section break and the headers, footers, margins, or orientation it may control. If you only want to remove a cover page while keeping a separate section’s layout, leave that break in place and remove only the cover-page content. If the document is complex, use the saved copy to test changes.

The page number or header looks different afterward. Check whether the cover page used a separate first-page header or belonged to its own section. Double-click the header or footer and inspect the options for Different First Page and Link to Previous. These settings can affect what appears after deletion. Adjust them only after confirming which section you are editing, since a change can apply to multiple pages.

I cannot edit or delete anything. Look for a yellow Protected View bar or an editing restriction. If the file is in Protected View, select Enable Editing only if you trust the document. If editing is restricted, ask the document owner for an editable copy or the required password; do not try to bypass protection.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I delete a cover page without deleting the rest of the document?
Yes. Use Insert > Pages > Cover Page > Remove Current Cover Page for a built-in cover page. For a custom page, select only its content and any redundant page break, then check the document layout.

Why does Word still show a blank first page?
A page break, section break, or required paragraph mark may still be forcing content onto another page. Turn on formatting marks with Ctrl+Shift+8 on Windows or Command+8 on Mac and inspect the boundary. A table at the end of a page can also force a final paragraph onto a new page.

Will deleting a cover page change page numbering?
It can change which numbered page appears first, particularly if the cover was in a separate section or the document used different first-page numbering. Check the headers and footers after removal. If the numbering needs adjustment, use the page-number settings for the relevant section rather than deleting more breaks at random.

Can I remove a cover page in Word for the web?
It depends on the controls available in the current web version and on how the cover was created. If the cover-page gallery command is not available, remove the custom text and objects in the web editor if possible, or choose Open in Desktop App and use Word’s desktop controls.

Does removing the cover page delete its text from the document?
Yes. The built-in removal command removes the cover-page element, including the content entered in its fields. If you want to keep a title or author name, copy that information first and paste it into the body or another page before removing the cover.

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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