How to delete a blank page in Word (even at the end)

Applies to Word for Microsoft 365, Word 2016-2024 and Word for Mac. Blank pages almost always come from something invisible - showing formatting marks makes it visible.

Delete a blank page

Blank page in the middle

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+8 to show formatting marks.
2. Go to the blank page and look for empty ¶ marks, a Page Break line or a Section Break line.
3. Select them by dragging, and press Delete.
4. Press Ctrl+Shift+8 again to hide the marks.

Blank page at the end of the document

1. Press Ctrl+End to go to the end.
2. Press Backspace until the blank page disappears.
3. If it won't go, the last ¶ probably sits after a table or a page break - see the fixes below.

Delete a whole page with content

1. Click anywhere on the page.
2. Press Ctrl+G (Go To), type \page in Enter page number, press Enter, then Close.
3. The page's content is now selected - press Delete.

Blank last page after a table

Word always adds a paragraph mark after a table, and it can't be deleted. If the table fills the page, that ¶ spills onto a new page. Fix it by making the ¶ tiny:

1. Select the final ¶ after the table.
2. Press Ctrl+D, set Size to 1 and click OK.
3. If needed, go to Layout and set Spacing Before and After to 0, or reduce the bottom margin slightly.

Section breaks

A Section Break (Next Page) or (Odd Page) can create an empty page. Deleting it merges the two sections' formatting (headers, orientation). To keep the formatting but lose the empty page, change the break type instead: click just after the break, open Layout > Page Setup dialog > Layout tab and change Section start to Continuous.

Blank page only when printing or as PDF

Check File > Print settings for printing on both sides, or for odd-page section breaks that insert blank pages so chapters start on the right. In the PDF export options, make sure you aren't printing document properties or markup pages.