Delete a Stubborn Blank or Extra Page in Word

There’s a page in your document you don’t want — a blank one at the end that won’t delete, or an extra page that appeared out of nowhere.

Why: Word has a final paragraph mark it won’t let you delete, and if it spills past a full page it creates a blank page. Other extra pages come from stray empty paragraphs or a manual page break. Turning on paragraph marks shows you which one you’re dealing with.

Fix 1: Delete a page that has content

If the page contains text or images:

1. Click anywhere on the page you want to remove.
2. Press Ctrl + G to open the Go To dialog.
3. In the Enter page number box, type \page and press Enter, then click Close.
4. Word selects everything on that page — press Delete.

Fix 2: Remove a blank page at the end

The trailing blank page is usually caused by the non-deletable end paragraph mark sitting on its own page.

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + 8 to show paragraph marks (the ¶ symbols).
2. Click just before the final paragraph mark to select it.
3. Click in the Font Size box on the Home tab, type 01, and press Enter.
4. The shrunken paragraph now fits on the previous page, so the blank page disappears.
5. Press Ctrl + Shift + 8 again to hide the marks.

If the blank page persists, also delete any extra empty paragraphs (each ¶ on the blank page) by selecting them and pressing Delete.

Fix 3: Remove a manual page break

An extra page mid-document is often a page break someone inserted.

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + 8 to show formatting marks.
2. Find the Page Break marker — a dotted line labeled “Page Break”.
3. Click just before it to place the cursor there and press Delete (or double-click to select it, then Delete).

FAQ

The blank page won’t go even after shrinking the paragraph mark. Check for a “Page break before” setting: right-click the empty paragraph, choose Paragraph, open the Line and Page Breaks tab, and clear Page break before. A slightly smaller bottom margin (Layout > Margins > Custom Margins) can also help when content barely overflows.

Why is there a paragraph mark I can’t delete? Word always keeps one final paragraph mark — you can’t remove it, only shrink it (Fix 2) so it stops forcing a new page.

I only need to drop the blank page from a printout or PDF. When you Save As PDF, click Options and specify a page range that excludes the last page.

Sources: Microsoft Support — Delete a page in Word, Microsoft Support — Delete a blank page