How to Delete a Specific Page in Word on Windows and Mac

To delete a specific page in Word, click in its text, use Go To to select that page, and delete the selection. In Word for Microsoft 365 on Windows, press Ctrl+G, enter \page, press Enter, close the dialog, check the highlighted content, and press Delete. Save a copy first if the page contains important text: Word reflows pages as content changes, and deleting a section break can change formatting elsewhere.

What You’ll Need

A Word document you can edit. If it is read-only or protected, you may need permission or to remove editing restrictions first.
The page number or a clear way to identify the page. Word pages can shift when text is removed, so check the page’s content as well as its number.
Optional: a saved copy of the document, especially if it has section-specific headers, footers, page orientation, or margins.

Step-by-Step

Save a copy before making a large change. In Word for Windows, choose File > Save As and save another copy if you want a safe fallback. On a Mac, use File > Save As or File > Duplicate, depending on your version. This is particularly useful if the target page contains a section break or complex layout. You can also use Undo immediately after a mistake, but a separate copy is more dependable if you continue editing.
Find the page you want to remove. Look at the page number in Word’s status bar, or open the Navigation pane using View > Navigation Pane. On Windows, you can also press Ctrl+G to open Go To, enter the page number, and press Enter. On Mac, press Option+Command+G to open Go To; the menu path is Edit > Find > Go To in versions that show it. Navigate to the target, close the dialog, then click inside the page’s text. Confirm you are on the intended page before selecting anything.
Select the current page with Go To. On Windows, press Ctrl+G or F5 to open the Go To tab. Type \page into the page-number field, press Enter, and then close the dialog. Word selects the content on the page containing the insertion point. On Mac, try Option+Command+G and enter \page in the Go To field; if your Word version does not accept that selection command, use the manual selection method in step 6. The exact dialog appearance can differ between versions.
Check what Word selected. The page’s text and objects should appear highlighted. Inspect the selection before deleting: it may include paragraph marks or a page break that determines where the following page starts. If the highlighted area is not the page you meant to remove, press Esc or click elsewhere, return to the correct page, and repeat the selection. Do not delete a broad selection just because it looks close; a few extra paragraphs can remove content from neighboring pages.
Delete the selected content. Press Delete on Windows or Mac. You can also use Backspace. Word removes the selected material and automatically moves later content up, so the page number of the pages after it may change. If the page was the only content on a sheet, that sheet should disappear. If it remains blank, the cause is usually a page break, section break, or an empty paragraph rather than ordinary text.
Review the pages around the change. Scroll through the document and check the page before and after the deletion. Look for missing text, an unexpectedly empty page, changed headers or footers, altered page orientation, and shifts in numbering. Press Ctrl+Z on Windows or Command+Z on Mac immediately if the result is wrong; then identify the break or formatting mark causing the issue before trying again.
Use the manual method if Go To does not select properly. Click at the beginning of the target page’s first paragraph. Hold Shift and click at the end of the last paragraph on that page, then inspect the highlighted range and press Delete. Depending on the layout, a click near the end of the page may select text beyond it, so use this method carefully. For a page containing a table, make sure you do not select the required paragraph after the table unless you intend to remove it too.
Remove a page break if it is what creates the page. If the page starts after a deliberate break, turn on formatting marks using Home > ¶. The keyboard shortcut is Ctrl+Shift+8 on Windows and Command+8 on Mac. Click just before the visible Page Break label and press Delete, or select the break and delete it. This joins the following content to the preceding page; it does not erase the following page’s text, so review the new layout.
Save and check the finished document. Use Ctrl+S on Windows or Command+S on Mac. If you plan to share or print the document, look at it in View > Print Layout and confirm the intended content is gone, the following pages are present, and the page numbering and layout still make sense.

Common Mistakes

Deleting the wrong page because page numbers shifted. Page numbers can change after earlier edits, and the number displayed on a page may differ from its printed footer number if the document has sections or restarted numbering. Identify the target by its heading or text, not just by a number.

Removing content but leaving the cause of a blank page. A blank page often contains a page break, section break, or empty paragraph. Deleting visible words alone may not remove that structural mark. Show formatting marks with the ¶ button so you can see what is occupying the page.

Deleting a section break without checking formatting. A section break can control page orientation, margins, columns, headers, footers, and numbering. Removing it may make the surrounding text adopt the formatting of a neighboring section. If you need to preserve those settings, consider changing the break or its section settings rather than deleting it blindly.

Selecting across a page boundary. A mouse drag can include the last paragraph of the previous page or the first paragraph of the next. Check the selection before pressing Delete. When uncertain, undo and use Go To or work with visible formatting marks.

Trying to delete a page as if it were a separate object. In a normal Word document, a page is produced by flowing text and layout rules; it is not usually a standalone item that can be removed from a page list. The practical fix is to remove the page’s content or the break or paragraph mark forcing it to exist.

Tips

Use Home > ¶ when a page seems empty. Showing formatting marks does not print them; it only makes paragraph marks, tabs, and breaks visible while editing.
If the document has many pages, use Ctrl+G on Windows or Option+Command+G on Mac to jump to a page, then identify it by its text before selecting. The Go To command is a navigation aid; it does not by itself remove a page.
For a blank final page after a table, display formatting marks and inspect the paragraph mark immediately after the table. Word requires a paragraph after a table. If that required mark is pushed onto a new page, select it and reduce its font size, such as to 1 point, or adjust its paragraph spacing. Avoid deleting the table or changing margins without checking the layout.
When the page has a header, footer, or different orientation, note those details before editing. A section break may be responsible for the difference, so deleting it may affect more than the single page you intended to remove.
After the deletion, use Print Layout rather than relying only on a text-only view. Pagination can change as Word repaginates, and Print Layout makes blank pages and page boundaries easier to verify.

Troubleshooting

The \page command does not select the page. First, click in the page’s body text and open the Go To dialog again. Enter the command in the page-number field, not in the document itself. If your version does not accept it, use the manual method: click at the start of the page, Shift-click at the end of its last paragraph, and check the highlighted range. On Mac, Go To shortcuts and dialog controls can vary by Word version, so use Edit > Find > Go To if the shortcut is unavailable.

The blank page will not disappear. Turn on formatting marks and inspect the page and the paragraph immediately before it. Delete an unnecessary manual page break. If you see a section break, do not remove it until you have checked whether it controls layout or headers. If the page is after a table, Word’s required final paragraph may be the cause; reduce that paragraph’s font size or spacing so it fits on the previous page.

Deleting the break changes the whole document’s layout. Press Ctrl+Z or Command+Z right away. The break likely separates sections with different settings. Instead of removing it, consider whether you can remove only the content within the section, or adjust the section’s page setup while retaining the break. Compare the headers and footers before and after any change.

The wrong text disappeared. Undo immediately with Ctrl+Z on Windows or Command+Z on Mac. Navigate to the intended page by its heading or distinctive text, click inside it, and make a fresh selection. If the document has been edited further since the deletion, use the saved copy to recover missing content rather than repeatedly undoing unrelated changes.

The page comes back after editing. A later paragraph may have pagination settings such as a page break before, or a table or image may be too large to fit in the available space. Show formatting marks, inspect paragraph settings, and check the object’s size and text wrapping. Removing the visible text alone will not resolve a layout rule that forces content onto a new page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I delete one page without affecting the rest of the document?
Usually, you can remove that page’s content without intentionally changing other text. Word repaginates automatically, though, so later page numbers and page breaks may shift. Deleting a section break can also affect formatting in nearby sections.

How do I delete a blank page in Word?
Show formatting marks with Home > ¶. Look for an extra paragraph mark, a manual page break, or a section break and address the specific cause. If the blank page follows a table, reduce the required paragraph after the table so it fits on the previous page.

Does deleting a page remove its text permanently?
It removes the selected content from the document, but you can usually restore it immediately with Undo. For protection before a complex edit, save a separate copy first. If you save and close the document after deleting content, recovery may depend on your backup or version history.

Can I delete a page in Word for Mac?
Yes. The page-selection approach is similar, but shortcuts differ: use Option+Command+G to open Go To and Command+8 to show formatting marks. If the Go To dialog in your version does not accept \page, select the page’s content manually and verify the highlighted range before deleting.

Why does Word show a blank page after I delete its contents?
A hidden formatting mark may still force a page. Common causes are a page break, section break, an empty paragraph, or the required paragraph after a table. Turn on formatting marks and check whether the remaining mark can safely be removed or adjusted.

Will deleting a section break remove the page only?
No. A section break can carry layout settings for the sections around it. Removing it may change orientation, margins, columns, headers, footers, or numbering. Save a copy, check those settings, and avoid deleting the break unless you are comfortable with the resulting section layout.

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

Spotted an error in this guide? Let us know.