How to Remove a Page Break in Word (and Stubborn Blank Pages)

Nothing makes a report look more unfinished than a heading stranded at the bottom of one page or half a page of white space before the next section. Usually there's a page break hiding in there, and Word won't show it to you until you ask.

The trick is knowing which kind of break you're dealing with, because Microsoft's help is clear that some can be deleted and some can't. I'll go through both, plus the section breaks and blank pages that often get mistaken for page breaks.

Manual and automatic page breaks in Word

According to Microsoft, Word has two kinds:

• Automatic page breaks are the ones Word adds wherever a page fills up. You can't remove these, but you can change where they fall.
• Manual page breaks are the ones you or a colleague added while editing. These you can delete.

If you can't select a break at all, it's almost certainly automatic, and you'll want the paragraph settings further down rather than the Delete key.

Showing hidden page breaks with Show/Hide in Word

Breaks are invisible in the normal view. Go to Home and select Show/Hide (the paragraph symbol). You'll now see paragraph marks and the page breaks themselves. Microsoft also lists Ctrl + Shift + 8 on Windows and Cmd + 8 on a Mac to switch the marks on and off.

Deleting a manual page break in Word for Windows

1. Go to Home and select Show/Hide.
2. Find the page break in the text.
3. Double-click it to select it.
4. Press Delete.

The text below the break moves up to fill the gap. Turn Show/Hide off again when you're done if the marks distract you.

Deleting a manual page break in Word for Mac

1. Go to Home and select Show/Hide.
2. Click just after the paragraph mark in the page break.
3. Press Delete.

The Mac instruction to click just after the mark is the bit that catches people. It's easy to click in the wrong spot and select nothing.

Removing a page break in Word for the web

In the browser, Microsoft says you need to be in Editing View. If you're not, select Edit Document, then Edit in Word for the web. Then select the page break and press Backspace. Don't panic if you can't see it in Reading View, because breaks don't appear there.

Moving automatic page breaks with Word's paragraph settings

Since automatic breaks can't be deleted, the fix is to tell Word how paragraphs should behave around them. Select the paragraphs, open the Paragraph dialog launcher (on the Layout or Page Layout tab in Windows, or Format, then Paragraph on a Mac) and go to Line and Page Breaks.

Option	What Microsoft says it does
Widow/Orphan control	Keeps at least two lines of a paragraph at the top or bottom of a page
Keep with next	Stops a break between paragraphs that belong together, such as a heading and its first paragraph
Keep lines together	Stops a break in the middle of a paragraph
Page break before	Adds a break before a specific paragraph

That last one is sneaky. If a heading always jumps to a new page and there's no visible break, Page break before is often switched on in its style. Microsoft notes that a small square bullet beside an empty paragraph mark is a clue. Open Paragraph Settings, go to the Lines and Page Breaks tab and clear Page break before.

When it's a Word section break rather than a page break

With Show/Hide on, you'll also see section breaks. They can look like page breaks, but deleting one has a side effect. Microsoft warns that the text before and after merges into one section, and the combined section uses the formatting from the section that followed the break.

That can change your headers, footers, margins or page orientation. If you only want to stop a section starting on a new page, double-click the section break, open Breaks on the Layout tab and choose Continuous instead. Microsoft also suggests Link to previous when you want the earlier section's headers or footers kept. Switching to Draft on the View tab makes section breaks easier to spot.

Fixing a stubborn blank page after removing a Word page break

Sometimes the break is gone but an empty page remains at the end. Word always keeps a final paragraph mark, and if it spills onto a new page you'll see a blank sheet. Microsoft's fix:

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + 8 (Cmd + 8 on a Mac) to show paragraph marks.
2. Select the last paragraph mark.
3. Type 01 in the Font size box and press Enter.
4. Hide the marks again.

If it still won't fit, Microsoft suggests reducing the bottom margin in Layout, Margins, Custom Margins, to something small such as 0.3 inches.

Page breaks in Word documents you share with clients

I always run a quick Show/Hide check before sending a proposal or a CV, because stray breaks look fine on your screen and odd on someone else's. If you're polishing a CV, my roundup of free resume templates worth downloading gives you layouts that start out tidy. And if you build multi-page guides in Canva rather than Word, my walkthrough on adding page numbers in Canva keeps those tidy too.

Frequently asked questions

Why can't I delete a page break in Word?

It's probably an automatic page break. Microsoft says you can't remove those, only change where they fall, using the Line and Page Breaks options in the Paragraph dialog.

How do I see page breaks in Word?

Go to Home and select Show/Hide. Microsoft also lists Ctrl + Shift + 8 on Windows and Cmd + 8 on a Mac to show paragraph marks and breaks.

How do I remove a page break in Word for the web?

Make sure you're in Editing View, select the page break and press Backspace. Breaks don't show in Reading View.

Will deleting a section break change my formatting?

It can. Microsoft says the merged section uses the formatting from the section that followed the break, which can affect headers, footers and margins.

Why does my heading always start on a new page?

Page break before is probably switched on for that paragraph or style. Open Paragraph Settings, go to Lines and Page Breaks and clear it.