Using Microsoft Word, extra blank pages appear as a result of unnecessary paragraphs or page breaks. If you have tried (and failed) to delete a blank page from a Word document by selecting its lower right corner and pressing the "Backspace" key, you can solve the problem by deleting all hidden special characters related to text formatting. Read on to find out how to make visible and remove formatting characters that identify paragraphs and page breaks, along with how to deal with one that you can't get rid of.
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Remove Paragraphs and Page Breaks
Step 1. Open the document to edit using Word
In most cases, blank pages in a Word document are generated by unwanted or unnecessary paragraphs and page breaks. To find out if this is also the cause of your current formatting problem, you need to enable the display of special characters that Word uses to format document text.
Step 2. Press the hotkey combination Ctrl + ⇧ Shift + 8 (on Windows systems) or ⌘ Command + 8 (on OS X systems).
At this point, you should be able to see the paragraph identifying characters ("¶") positioned at the beginning of each blank line and at the end of each existing paragraph. You may also be able to see thin, dashed lines that say "Page break".
Step 3. Look carefully at the blank page
If the special character "¶" or a "Page break" is evident in this part of the document, simply delete them.
Step 4. Highlight the "¶" character or the "Page break" line with the mouse
If both indicators are present (or more than one), highlight them all at the same time.
Step 5. Press the Delete key
This removes all special "¶" characters and selected page breaks. To be able to delete the offending blank page, you may need to press the Delete key several times.
If there are paragraph markers ("¶") that are not suppressed, they are most likely referring to the bottom of a table. See this section of the article for more information on what to do in this case
Step 6. Disable the display of paragraph markers
Now that you've fixed the problem, you can again hide these special characters related to text formatting. Press the "¶" button on the Word toolbar, or use the hotkey combination:
- Windows systems: Ctrl + ⇧ Shift + 8.
- OS X systems: ⌘ Command + 8.
Method 2 of 2: Remove a Blank Page at the End of a Table
Step 1. Open the document to edit using Word
Blank pages that cannot be deleted are usually related to documents ending with a table. When you insert a table into a Word document, the latter must store the formatting data of the text in an empty paragraph placed exactly after it. Deleting this "special" paragraph is not allowed, however it can be reduced in size to be able to eliminate the unwanted blank page.
Try to use this method in the case of documents created from predefined Word templates (for example to create resumes, graphics, brochures), as they usually contain tables inside them
Step 2. Go to the "Table Tools" menu tab
If this tab is not visible on the menu bar, select anywhere in the text preceding the blank page to be deleted to make it appear.
Step 3. Select the "Layout" section of the "Table Tools" tab
The settings related to table management should appear in the toolbar.
Step 4. Choose the "View Grid" option
You should now be able to see lines surrounding the text preceding the unwanted blank page.
Step 5. Enable the display of paragraph markers
This will display the special formatting characters that Word uses to identify paragraphs ("¶"). Here's how to do it:
- Windows systems: Ctrl + ⇧ Shift + 8.
- OS X systems: ⌘ Command + 8.
Step 6. Select the "¶" character which is exactly after the table
If there are multiple "¶" symbols, use the mouse to highlight them all.
Step 7. Go to the "Home" tab of the menu bar
Now that you've selected the special formatting characters that are causing the problem, it's time to change their size.
Step 8. Click inside the font size box
This text box contains a number (for example "12") and is positioned exactly next to the font name of the text (for example "Times New Roman").
Step 9. Press the key
Step 1., then press Enter.
In this way, the size of the hidden paragraph will be minimized, so that it can be contained on the last page of the document without the need to create a new blank page. The result of this change should make the unwanted page disappear.
Step 10. Disable the display of paragraph markers
Now that you've fixed the problem, you can again hide these special characters related to text formatting. Press the "¶" button on the Word toolbar or use the hotkey combination:
- Windows systems: Ctrl + ⇧ Shift + 8.
- OS X systems: ⌘ Command + 8.
