How to Delete a Blank Page in Word That Won’t Go Away

A blank page in Word that won’t go away is almost always caused by something you can’t see: extra empty paragraphs, a page break, a section break, or the paragraph Word adds after a table. To find out which one, press Ctrl + Shift + 8 to show formatting marks, then look at the blank page and use the matching fix below.

Applies to: Word for Microsoft 365, Word 2024, 2021, 2019, and 2016 on Windows. Checked against Microsoft Support on September 24, 2026.

Step 1: Show what’s on the blank page

1. Open your document and go to the blank page.
2. On the Home tab, select the ¶ (Show/Hide) button in the Paragraph group, or press Ctrl + Shift + 8.
3. Look at the blank page. You’ll see one or more ¶ marks, a dotted Page Break line, or a double dotted Section Break line.

Match what you see to the fixes below. You can turn formatting marks off again with the same button when you’re done.

Fix 1: Delete extra empty paragraphs

Every time you press Enter, Word adds a paragraph mark (¶). A row of them can push onto a new page.

1. Click on the blank page, just before the first ¶ mark.
2. Press Delete (or Backspace) until the extra marks are gone and the page disappears.

If the page is at the very end of the document, press Ctrl + End to jump there first.

Fix 2: Delete a page break

A manual page break starts a new page even if the current one isn’t full.

1. Double-click the Page Break line to select it.
2. Press Delete.

Fix 3: Remove or change a section break

Section breaks marked Next Page, Odd Page, or Even Page start a new page. An Odd Page or Even Page break can also create a blank page that only shows up when you print.

1. Click just before the Section Break label and press Delete.
2. Check the pages around it. Deleting a section break makes the section above it take on the layout of the section below, such as orientation, margins, or headers.

If the layout changes in a way you don’t want, press Ctrl + Z to undo. Then keep the break but stop it from starting a new page:

1. Click in the section just after the break.
2. Select Layout, then the small arrow in the bottom corner of the Page Setup group.
3. On the Layout tab, set Section start to Continuous, and select OK.

Fix 4: Remove the blank page after a table

If your document ends with a table, Word always adds a paragraph after it, and you can’t delete that paragraph. When the table fills the page, that paragraph spills onto a new blank page. Make it too small to need its own page:

1. Select the ¶ mark on the blank page.
2. On the Home tab, click in the Font Size box, type 1, and press Enter.
3. If the page is still there, right-click the ¶ mark, select Paragraph, and set Before and After under Spacing to 0 pt.

Still there? Reduce the bottom margin slightly in Layout > Margins > Custom Margins so the paragraph fits on the page above.

Fix 5: Turn off “Page break before”

If you see a small square next to the ¶ mark on the blank page, that paragraph is set to always start on a new page.

1. Right-click the paragraph and select Paragraph.
2. Select the Line and Page Breaks tab.
3. Clear Page break before and select OK.

While you’re there, clearing Keep with next on the paragraph above can also stop a heading or line from jumping to a new page on its own.

Fix 6: Leave it out when you save a PDF

If you only need a clean PDF and can’t find the cause, you can skip the blank page when you save:

1. Select File > Save As, then choose PDF in the Save as type list.
2. Select Options.
3. Under Page range, choose Page(s) and set From and To to the pages you want to keep.
4. Select OK, then Save.

If you’re using Word for the web

Word for the web can delete empty paragraphs and page breaks, but it can’t change or remove section breaks. Switch to Editing mode, delete the empty lines, or select Open in Desktop App to fix section breaks in Word.

Frequently asked questions

Why can’t I delete a blank page in Word?

Word only deletes content, not pages. A page disappears when whatever is on it is removed. If the page won’t go, it usually holds the hidden paragraph after a table, a section break, or a paragraph set to Page break before. Fixes 3 to 5 cover these.

How do I find the blank page quickly in a long document?

Select View > Navigation Pane, then Pages, and click the blank page’s thumbnail. In File > Print, the preview also shows every page, including blank ones created by section breaks.

Will deleting a section break mess up my document?

It can. The text above the break takes on the settings of the section below it. Check headers, page numbers, and page orientation after you delete one, and undo if something changes.

Need to remove a page that has content on it? See how to delete a page in Word. Want one page turned sideways instead of removed? See how to make only one page landscape in Word. Microsoft’s own guide is Delete a blank page. More help is on our Word Help & Guides page.