How to Delete a Whole Page in Word Without Losing Text

To delete a whole page in Microsoft Word, place the cursor on that page, press Ctrl+G on Windows (Option+Command+G on Mac), enter \page, press Enter, close the Go To box, and press Backspace or Delete. Check the result straight away: Word pages are created by flowing text and formatting, so removing a page’s contents can change where later text appears. Save a copy first if the document is important, and use the blank-page instructions below when the page has no ordinary text to select.

What You’ll Need

The Word document open in the desktop version of Microsoft Word for Microsoft 365. The steps are similar in recent Word versions.
A keyboard, so you can use the Go To shortcut and, if necessary, show formatting marks.
Permission to edit the document. If it is read-only or protected, you may need to save an editable copy or remove editing restrictions first.
For a document you cannot easily recreate, make a duplicate with File > Save As before deleting content. This gives you a fallback if the change affects formatting elsewhere.

Step-by-Step

Check which page you want to remove. Scroll to it and note a few words near its beginning or end. If you are unsure of its page number, look at the page number shown in Word’s status bar, or use View > Navigation Pane and select the Pages tab to browse page thumbnails. Page thumbnails help you locate a page, but they do not provide a one-click delete-page command.
Place the insertion point on the target page. Click inside its text, or click in the blank area if Word lets you place the cursor there. The Go To method works on the page containing the cursor; it does not require you to drag across the text or know exactly where the page begins. If you are using a keyboard, move the cursor into the page with the arrow keys before continuing.
Open Go To. In Word for Microsoft 365 on Windows, press Ctrl+G. You can also open the Find and Replace dialog with Home > Find > Go To, then select the Go To tab. On a Mac, press Option+Command+G to open Go To. The labels and dialog layout can differ slightly between Word builds, but the key action is to open the Go To page field.
Select the current page’s contents. In the Enter page number field, type \page, then press Enter. The backslash command tells Word to select the contents of the page where the cursor is located. Close the Go To dialog with Esc or its close button. The selected text should now be highlighted in the document. Take a moment to confirm that the highlight covers the intended page and not text you meant to keep. The selection can include paragraph marks or a page break, depending on how the page is laid out.
Delete the selection. Press Backspace or Delete. On a Mac, the Delete key usually acts like Backspace on a Windows keyboard; use Fn+Delete if you need forward delete. Avoid pressing a key before checking the highlighted area, because an accidental selection can remove content from the preceding or following page. Word may pull later text up, reduce the page count, or reflow paragraphs across several pages.
Review the pages around the change. Check the text immediately before and after the deleted page, and scan any headers, footers, tables, images, or page numbering nearby. If the wrong material disappeared, press Ctrl+Z on Windows or Command+Z on Mac immediately. Undo restores the previous document state, after which you can try again with a more precise selection.
Save after you verify the result. Use Ctrl+S on Windows or Command+S on Mac. If you used Save As to create a working copy, make sure you are saving the intended file. For a shared document, confirm that Word has finished saving or syncing before closing it.

For a blank page, inspect formatting marks before deleting anything. On Windows, press Ctrl+Shift+8 to show or hide paragraph marks; on Mac, press Command+8. You can also use Home > Show/Hide ¶ on Windows or Home > ¶ on Mac. A blank-looking page often contains a page break, section break, or an empty paragraph that Word still needs for layout. Click just before the visible break or paragraph mark and press Delete, or click just after it and press Backspace. Then hide the marks again and check the surrounding layout.

Common Mistakes

Assuming a page is a separate object. In a typical Word document, a page is the result of text flow, margins, spacing, and breaks. Deleting its text does not delete a permanent page container; the following content simply moves into the space.
Deleting the wrong page because the cursor was elsewhere. The \page command selects the page containing the insertion point. It does not select a page merely because its thumbnail is highlighted or because you were last viewing it. Click inside the target page before using Go To.
Removing a section break without checking what it controls. Section breaks can set different margins, orientation, columns, headers, footers, or page numbering. Deleting one may merge sections and change formatting on pages you intended to keep. If the unwanted page is caused by a section break, consider changing the break or section settings rather than removing it blindly.
Using the Backspace key repeatedly on a blank page. This can erase the last paragraph of the previous page or remove a break that controls layout. Turn on formatting marks first, identify the exact mark causing the blank page, and remove only that mark when appropriate.
Expecting the page number to stay the same. Word updates page numbering as content reflows. The page that followed the deleted page may take its number, and a section may have its own numbering rules. Review the final numbering rather than relying on what you saw before editing.

Tips

Use the status bar and Navigation Pane together. The status bar can show the current page and total pages; right-click it if page information is not displayed. View > Navigation Pane opens page thumbnails and search. Search for a distinctive phrase on the page if scrolling through a long document is difficult.
Think about what you want to remove. If you want to remove just the words on a page but keep a deliberate page break, select the text and leave the break. If you want later content to move up too, remove the break or other layout mark that forces a new page.
Use formatting marks to diagnose, not as normal text. Paragraph symbols and break labels are visual aids; they do not print. Turn them on to understand why a page exists, and turn them off again when you are done if they make the document harder to read.
For a large or complex document, work in a copy. This is especially useful when the target page contains a table, a section break, tracked changes, or content in headers and footers. A duplicate lets you compare the result with the original without relying only on Undo.
Review tracked changes and comments. If Track Changes is on, deletions may appear as marked revisions instead of disappearing immediately. Check Review > Track Changes and the markup display before deciding whether to accept or reject changes; deleting text and accepting revisions are different actions.

Troubleshooting

The page remains after I delete its text. Turn on paragraph marks and look for a manual page break, section break, or empty paragraph at the end of the preceding page. A break may be pushing the next content onto a new page. Remove only the cause you have identified. If the remaining blank page is after a table, Word may require a final paragraph after the table; select that paragraph mark and reduce its font size or paragraph spacing rather than trying to remove a required paragraph.

The next page’s layout changed. You may have removed a section break that separated different page settings, or the document may have reflowed because the deleted content affected pagination. Undo immediately if the change is unexpected. If you need to keep the section formatting, restore the break and remove only the content, or adjust the section break type and page settings carefully. Check headers, footers, margins, orientation, and numbering on both sides.

The Go To command did not select anything useful. Confirm that the cursor is on the page you intend to remove, then reopen Go To and enter \page exactly, including the backslash. Close the dialog after pressing Enter; the selection appears in the document window. If the page contains only a break or required paragraph, the selection may be hard to see, so show formatting marks and delete the specific mark instead.

I deleted the wrong content. Stop editing and use Undo (Ctrl+Z on Windows or Command+Z on Mac). If you already closed the document or made many later changes, check File > Info for version history or recoverable versions, particularly when the file is saved to OneDrive or SharePoint. Recovery options depend on where and how the document was saved.

I cannot edit the document. Look for a read-only notice, editing restriction, or protected view. If you trust the file, use the available Enable Editing option, or ask the document owner for editing access. Do not try to bypass restrictions on a document you are not authorized to change.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I delete a page in Word without deleting its text?
A page is not usually an independent object. To remove the page break and let later content move up, delete the break that starts the page. If you delete the text but leave a page break or section formatting in place, Word may still show a blank page.

Why does Word not have a Delete Page button?
Word lays out pages dynamically, so the same content can occupy different pages when margins, fonts, or text change. The Go To command selects the current page’s contents, while breaks and paragraph settings control pages that appear blank.

Does this method work in Word for the web?
Word for the web has different shortcut and ribbon behavior, and the desktop Go To selection workflow may not be available in the same way. You can select the page’s text manually in the browser, or open the document in the desktop Word app for the Go To method and more complete formatting controls.

How do I delete a page break but keep the text?
Show formatting marks, locate the Page Break label, click immediately before it, and press Delete, or click after it and press Backspace. The text on the next page should move up. Review the result because removing a break can change pagination.

What if I want to delete a page with a table or picture?
The \page selection may include text and objects anchored to paragraphs, but floating objects can behave differently. Review what is selected before deleting. If an image remains, select it separately and delete it only if you also intend to remove the image; check nearby text and layout afterward.

Will deleting a page affect page numbers?
Usually, Word updates sequential page numbers automatically. However, section-specific numbering, headers, and footers may be configured differently. Check the pages around the deletion and inspect the relevant section if numbering does not update as expected.

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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