How to Delete a Random Page in Word

To delete a random page in Microsoft Word, click anywhere on that page, press Ctrl+G on Windows, enter \page, press Enter, close the Go To dialog, and press Backspace. Check the document afterward: if the page is blank or remains, a page break, section break, table, or paragraph mark may be keeping it there.

This method works in Word for Microsoft 365 on Windows and is useful when you need to remove a page without dragging across text. Before deleting, save your document or make a copy if it contains important formatting. Removing a page can also remove its text, images, tables, or layout breaks, so confirm that the selection covers only what you intend to discard.

What You’ll Need

A Word document you can edit, open in the desktop version of Microsoft Word.
The page number of the page you want to remove, or a way to locate it by scrolling.
A saved copy if the document is important or has complicated section formatting. You can use File > Save As to create a separate copy before making changes.

You do not need an add-in or special tool. Word’s Go To command can select the contents of a page, while formatting marks help reveal hidden breaks that may cause an unwanted blank page.

Step-by-Step

Save the document. Press Ctrl+S on Windows. If you want to keep the original unchanged, choose File > Save As and save a duplicate with a different name. Deleting a page can affect numbering, headers, footers, or section layout, so a copy gives you a safe fallback.
Find the page and note its number. Scroll to the page, or click in it and check the page number shown in Word’s status bar. If the status bar does not show a page number, right-click the status bar and enable Page Number. You can also use the Navigation pane: choose View > Navigation Pane, then search for distinctive text or browse the page thumbnails.
Click inside the page you want to remove. Place the insertion point in its text or, if it is blank, click in the blank area. This matters because Word’s page-selection command acts on the page containing the insertion point. If you click at the end of the previous page, you may select the wrong page.
Open Go To. Press Ctrl+G on Windows. In the Find and Replace dialog, make sure the Go To tab is selected. The shortcut opens Go To in Word for Microsoft 365; if it opens another tab or dialog, select Go To yourself.
Select the current page. In the Enter page number box, type \page, including the backslash, and press Enter. Word selects the content on the page that contains the insertion point. Do not type a page number in this box for this particular selection method: \page is the instruction to select the current page.
Close the dialog and inspect the selection. Click Close in the Go To dialog. The page’s content should now appear highlighted. Look at the selection before deleting. If it extends into material you need, press Esc to cancel the selection and check that your insertion point was on the intended page.
Delete the selected content. Press Backspace or Delete. The page should disappear as Word reflows the document. If the page contains a table or images, check that those objects were selected too; if not, select them separately or use the blank-page troubleshooting steps below.
Review the pages around it. Check the page before and after the deletion for missing text, unexpected blank pages, changed page numbering, or shifted headings. Press Ctrl+Z immediately if the result is wrong, then try a more targeted edit, such as removing a break instead of deleting the whole page.

On Mac: Word’s Go To command is available from Edit > Find > Go To; the keyboard shortcut is commonly Option+Command+G. In the Go To dialog, enter \page, confirm the selection, close the dialog, and delete it. Shortcut behavior can vary with keyboard settings, so use the menu path if the shortcut does not open Go To. To display formatting marks on Mac, use Command+8; on Windows, use Ctrl+Shift+8.

Common Mistakes

Deleting the wrong page. Word selects the page containing the insertion point, not necessarily the page you were last viewing. Click inside the target page before opening Go To, then verify the highlighted area before pressing Backspace.

Removing a section break without checking its effects. A section break can control different margins, page orientation, columns, headers, footers, or page-number formats. Deleting it may merge sections and change the layout beyond the page you meant to remove. If you need to remove a section break, first check the pages around it and consider whether you can change the section’s formatting instead.

Assuming a blank page has no content. It may contain a paragraph mark, manual page break, section break, or an empty table cell. These marks are normally hidden, so the page can look empty while still being forced into the document by formatting.

Deleting text when you only need to remove a break. If the page starts because of a manual page break, deleting a large selection can remove useful text. Turn on formatting marks and remove only the break if that is the cause.

Forgetting that page numbers update. Word normally adjusts page numbering after a deletion, but a document with section-specific numbering may behave differently. Review the footer and header on nearby pages, especially if numbering restarts or uses a different format in one section.

Tips

Use the Navigation Pane when you are unsure which page you are on. Choose View > Navigation Pane, then select the pages or search results view if available in your Word layout. Clicking a result or thumbnail takes you to that part of the document; click in the page itself before running Go To.

Show hidden formatting before troubleshooting a blank page. On Windows, press Ctrl+Shift+8, or select Home > ¶ Show/Hide. The paragraph symbol (¶), page-break label, and section-break label reveal marks that do not print but affect pagination. Press the same shortcut or button again to hide them when finished.

If you are removing a page in the middle of a document, delete only after checking its boundaries. A heading at the bottom of the previous page may move, and a paragraph on the following page may fill the space. Word repaginates automatically, so the final document may have fewer pages than expected—or the page number of later content may simply change.

For future documents, use explicit page breaks only where a new page is required. Insert one with Insert > Page Break rather than pressing Enter repeatedly to push text down. A manual break is easier to find and remove later, and repeated blank paragraphs are less predictable when fonts or margins change.

Troubleshooting

The page is still there after deleting. Turn on formatting marks and inspect the page. If you see Page Break, click just before the break and press Delete, or click just after it and press Backspace. Check that the break itself is selected or removed, then review the surrounding text. If the page is held by a section break, be cautious: deleting it can change the formatting of the sections on either side.

A blank final page will not go away. Press Ctrl+End on Windows to go to the end of the document, then turn on formatting marks. If a final paragraph mark appears on the blank page, select it and reduce its font size to 1 pt using Home > Font Size. Word requires a paragraph mark after a table, so that final mark may be pushed onto a new page and cannot simply be deleted. Reducing its size or paragraph spacing can allow it to fit on the preceding page. If there is a manual break instead, remove that break.

The selection includes content from another page. Press Esc or click in the document to cancel it. Confirm the insertion point is on the target page, repeat the Go To command, and inspect the highlight. Page boundaries can shift as text changes, so use the current layout rather than relying on an old page number.

The page disappears but the layout changes elsewhere. Press Ctrl+Z to undo. Look for a section break near the deleted page and check whether it controls landscape pages, columns, margins, or headers. You may need to remove only ordinary page content or adjust the section layout rather than deleting the break.

The shortcut does something else. Open the Go To dialog from the ribbon or menu instead. In Word for Microsoft 365 on Windows, press Ctrl+G; alternatively, use Home > Find > Go To if that command is shown in your ribbon. On Mac, use Edit > Find > Go To if the shortcut differs on your keyboard.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I delete a page in Word without deleting its text?
Not if the page is occupied by text you intend to keep. Deleting a page means removing its content or changing the layout so that content moves elsewhere. If you only want to remove an empty page, identify and delete the break or extra paragraph mark that is creating it.

Does typing \page delete the page by itself?
No. It tells the Go To command to select the page containing the cursor. You still need to close the dialog, check the selection, and press Backspace or Delete to remove the selected content.

How do I delete a blank page between two pages of text?
Turn on formatting marks with Home > ¶ Show/Hide or Ctrl+Shift+8 on Windows. Find a page break, section break, or extra paragraph marks on the blank page, then remove the relevant mark carefully. If it is a section break, check how deleting it may affect formatting.

Can I use this method in Word for the web?
Word for the web has different menus and shortcut behavior from the desktop app. You can select the unwanted text or blank lines directly and delete them, but if you need to diagnose section breaks or a stubborn final page, open the file in the desktop Word app for its full formatting controls.

Will deleting a page change the page numbers?
Usually, Word updates page numbers automatically when the document repaginates. However, section-specific numbering may restart or use a different format. Check the headers and footers after deleting the page, particularly around section breaks.

Can I recover a page after deleting it?
Immediately press Ctrl+Z on Windows or Command+Z on Mac to undo. If you have already closed the document, recovery depends on whether the change was saved and whether version history or a backup is available.

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

More in How-to basics

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

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