How to Remove a Section Break in Word Without Wrecking Formatting

You've deleted the stray page, tidied the text, and Word still won't let a footer, a margin or a column layout behave. Nine times out of ten the culprit is a section break you can't see. It's the invisible divider that tells Word 'treat what follows as its own part of the document'.

I've read Microsoft's support article on deleting one, and it's refreshingly short. The catch is in what happens to your formatting afterwards, so I'll spend most of this page on that.

Showing the hidden section breaks in your Word document

You can't delete what you can't see. Microsoft's first step is to switch on the formatting marks:

1. Go to the Home tab.
2. Select Show/Hide, the paragraph-mark button. On a Mac, Microsoft's steps go through Home, Paragraph, Show/Hide.
3. Look through your document for a dotted line labelled as a section break.

Microsoft's example is a Continuous section break, and it notes that there are other types. Whatever the type, they all show up the same way once formatting marks are on, which also makes it easy to see where each one starts and ends.

Deleting a section break in Word on Windows

1. With formatting marks showing, place your cursor just before the section break.
2. Press Delete.

Microsoft's page also gives a variation where you select the break itself and press Delete. Either way, the dotted line disappears. If nothing seems to happen, check that you're clicking right at the start of the break instead of in the paragraph above.

Deleting a section break in Word for Mac

Microsoft's Mac-style steps differ slightly. After showing the marks through Home, Paragraph, Show/Hide, you place the cursor just before the section break and press the Backspace key instead. Menus vary by version, so if your ribbon looks different, look for the paragraph-mark button and work from there.

What happens to the formatting when a Word section break goes

This is the part that catches people out. Microsoft says that when you delete a section break, Word combines the text before and after the break into a single section. That combined section uses the formatting from the section that followed the break.

So if the first half of your document was portrait with a title-page layout, and the second half was set up differently, the whole lot takes on the second half's settings. That might be exactly what you want when you're cleaning up a mess. It might also reshuffle a carefully laid out report.

Question	What Microsoft's article says
Does deleting merge the sections?	Yes, the text before and after becomes one section
Whose formatting wins?	The section that followed the break
How do I keep the earlier headers or footers?	Use Link to previous instead of deleting the break
Can I do it in Word for the web?	The article gives no steps for the web, so use the desktop app

Using Link to previous instead of deleting a Word section break

Sometimes the break is doing a useful job, and all you really wanted was for the footer to match. Microsoft's advice is to use Link to previous instead of deleting. It keeps the sections separate while making a header or footer carry on from the one before, which keeps the earlier section's headers and footers intact.

In practice that means opening the header or footer area of the later section and switching on the Link to previous option on the Header & Footer tab. Menu names can vary by version, so look for that wording.

Checking your Word document after the section break is gone

Don't assume it went smoothly. A quick check takes a minute:

• Scroll to the spot where the break was and look at the page layout either side.
• Check the margins and orientation look right. If they've shifted, see my guide to changing margins in Google Docs for the same idea in Google's tool, or use Layout, Margins in Word.
• Look at the headers, footers and page numbers on the pages around the join.
• If it looks wrong, press Undo straight away and try Link to previous instead.

Working out why Word has a section break at all

Section breaks creep in when someone turns one page sideways, a different column layout or a new chapter with its own page numbering. They also arrive when you paste from another document, or when a template was built with them. That's useful to know if you work from client documents: the break may be there for a reason, so ask before you strip it out of someone else's file.

If your trouble is a blank page at the end rather than a layout problem, my notes on deleting a page in Google Docs show the thinking for that job, and in Word the same stray break is often what's holding the empty page open.

If the Word section break won't delete

1. Switch on Show/Hide so you can see exactly where the break sits.
2. Click directly before the break, not after it, and press Delete (on a Mac, Backspace).
3. If the document is protected or shared for review, check you're allowed to edit it. Microsoft's page doesn't cover this, so ask the owner.
4. Try the desktop app. Microsoft's article gives no steps for Word for the web.
5. Save a copy before you experiment, so you can go back.

Frequently asked questions

How do I remove a section break in Word?

Turn on Show/Hide from the Home tab, place the cursor just before the section break and press Delete. On a Mac, Microsoft's steps use Backspace instead.

Why can't I see my section break in Word?

Formatting marks are probably off. Select Show/Hide on the Home tab and the breaks appear.

What happens to the formatting when I delete a section break?

Microsoft says Word combines the text before and after the break into one section that uses the formatting of the section that followed the break.

How can I keep my headers and footers when removing a section break?

Microsoft suggests using Link to previous instead of deleting the break.

Can I delete a section break in Word for the web?

Microsoft's article gives no steps for the web, so use the Word desktop app.