You’ve decided that you’d like to get rid of a blank page in Word. In most cases, if you press the delete or backspace key on your keyboard a sufficient number of times, everything should work properly. However, there are times when it might not be that easy.

The Process of Deleting a Blank Page in Microsoft Word

Using the delete or backspace key is the quickest and easiest method for removing a blank page in Microsoft Word documents. However, the position of your cursor before you delete something is very important.

In order to get started, position the cursor at the bottom of the page that is blank in Word. If there is any extra space at the top of the following page, you will need to move the cursor to the beginning of the line that is blank in order to get rid of any additional space that has been left over.

You can delete all of the blank lines and pages by repeatedly pressing the delete or backspace key on your keyboard until all of the spaces are filled in. You might need to adjust any blank lines that are still present so that the beginning of the next page begins at the very top of the page.

You can also remove a blank page in Microsoft Word by positioning the cursor at the top of the blank page, holding down the Shift key, and using the down arrow key on the keyboard until the entire blank page is selected. This is yet another method for deleting a blank page. When you have finished doing that, you can remove the entire blank page by pressing the delete or backspace key just once and selecting the appropriate option.

If you have tried the process described above, but the blank page has not been deleted, there are a few potential explanations for this. Blank pages might not always be visible in certain layout views, or there might be a problem with the formatting in Word that causes it to generate blank pages even if there are none visible in the page layout view.

If you are unable to delete the blank page while viewing it in the default mode, you can try deleting it from the Navigation pane instead. Make your way to the View menu and then go to the Show section of the ribbon to turn on the Navigation Pane.

Choose the page that is empty from the list of pages that is located in the Navigation pane on the left. After it has been highlighted, using the key combination for deleting/backspacing should cause the blank page to vanish.

Another issue that can result in a blank page that you are unable to delete is when a page break was added to the page by either you or another user. It is possible to get rid of this by ensuring that a page break begins on a new page, which will then enable you to delete the blank page. In order to modify the settings for this section, go to the Layout menu and then select Margins from the ribbon. After that, choose the Custom Margins option.

Make sure you’re on the Layouts tab. Choose New page from the dropdown menu located in the Section start section. Make sure you click OK. It ought to bring up the blank page in a new section for you to view so that you can delete the page.

A user can also generate a blank page by using something called an embedded page break. Look for obvious formatting cues in order to determine whether or not there is a break between pages. Choose Display from the menu that appears to the left of the “File” option. Make sure the box to the left of is checked. Display all of the punctuation marks. Make sure you click OK.

Navigate the rest of your document while keeping an eye out for the various formatting marks. You should hopefully find the formatting mark for Page Break all the way around the blank page that you want to delete. To delete the blank page, simply highlight the formatting mark, and then press the delete or backspace key on your keyboard.

In the same series:
How to delete blank page in MS Word