Very often, when downloading MS Word documents from the Internet, you come across those that contain empty, redundant and unnecessary (not of interest) pages. And novice users sometimes have problems working with this text editor because they don't know how to delete a blank or extra page in Word. It also causes difficulties with removing page breaks.
Remove an unnecessary page in a Word document 2003, 2007, 2010
It doesn't matter which one version of Word you use, be it 2003, 2007, 2010 or even 2013. The solution is universal everywhere.
In order to remove a blank or extra page in Word, you should:
Please note that you can delete a page (or section of a page) without enabling/disabling the display of invisible characters. This just makes the job easier.
To view line breaks, there is an alternative to the ¶ button. You can go to the section "View" and activate the mode "Structure".
Video: how to remove a blank (page break), extra or unnecessary page in Word.
It would seem that the simplest task of how to delete a blank page in Word can result in a huge note with all the nuances of sections, breaks and other invisible characters. An office suite seems simple only at first glance, until there is a need to create a high-quality document.
This problem usually plagues users who edit documents created by other people. Not because they are smarter, it’s about invisible symbols and many other nuances office suite— we’ll go through all these little things in today’s post!
I looked at what people write here on the Internet about this issue - I’m shocked! See for yourself - to delete a page in Word, we need to delete the text from it. Can I delete the entire document at once? - We will definitely delete the document and the page in it, take it into account!
Just a brain explosion! Of course, I understand that the author wanted to stretch the text as much as possible so that you would stay longer on his site... and the method works - you can’t argue with that, but I want to tell you about the root of the problem blank pages in Word and options for eliminating them.
If the poor and empty page is at the very end of the document, then you can try to delete it blindly. As a rule, there are a couple of extra paragraphs that we don’t see (and they are). Point the cursor anywhere in the document and press the key combination CTRL + END (this way we will move to the real end of the document, not the one visible to us) and press the “Backspace” button to delete all invisible characters on the page.
There may be several such paragraphs and therefore you will have to press Backspace several times (but if you hit the backspace button and returned to the beginning of the document, then the problem is not hidden paragraphs)
The reason for the appearance of blank pages in Word is a witch hunt!
As I already said at the very beginning of the note, the main problem with blank pages in Word is the lack of a complete picture of the document being edited. To gain full control over the document, let’s turn on the display of paragraph marks and other hidden formatting marks.
This functionality is present in any version of Word. (even in 2003 and older). Surely many panicked after accidentally activating this mode... what previously unknown characters appeared in my document and what should I do with them?!
To enable the display of hidden symbols, do the following:
- In the feed Microsoft Word go to the “Home” tab and look for the “¶” button (show all characters) or use the hotkeys “CTRL + *”. Many people recommend CTRL + SHIFT + 8 because SHIFT + 8 gives a star... this is a bit counterintuitive (unless you have a laptop with a reduced keyboard), the asterisk is convenient to press on the numeric pad of the keyboard - all missing characters are typed exclusively from the numeric pad.
- After activating this crazy mode, all paragraphs will be marked with the sign “¶” and they can be easily identified on the page and therefore figure out how to delete a blank page in Word!
I decided to copy part of the note into a Word document, selected the fragment and pasted it onto the page... and at the end another empty paragraph was added - if it had been on another page, you would never have seen it without activating the view all characters mode
Invisible (blank) paragraphs
Quite often, there are extra paragraphs on a blank page - therefore the page is not empty and it is logical that it does not disappear. You already know that you can activate the display of hidden paragraphs by clicking the “¶” button on the ribbon Office settings. Just select the extra paragraphs and delete them with the “Delete” button (or any other way known to you)
If there are really extra paragraphs in the document, then after they are deleted the extra page will disappear.
The all-time leader after empty paragraphs in the reasons for the appearance of a blank page is forced breaks that users added to the page manually. As usual, we turn on the display of hidden signs and symbols and see this very page break - delete it and rejoice that we deleted the empty page in Word!
A blank page may also be inside the document itself due to a defined break. Similarly, we considered the situation with - sections and breaks are also to blame
Let's move on to the most interesting part of the note - these are the sections! If you are just learning MS WORD, then this is probably the reason that is incomprehensible to you and irritates you the most.
Sections are used for different page layouts (numbering, headers, footers, frames and other settings are individual for each section)
When you set a section break, you have three options to choose from:
- From an even page;
- From odd page;
- From the next page;
Now imagine the situation - you finished the document, made a conclusion and, out of habit, completed the section by clicking “From the next page”... here you have a new empty section at the end of the document. And as you already understood, a section in Word can be deleted only by turning on the display of hidden characters and paragraphs.
Turn on showing hidden characters and remove the section break (don’t forget that DELETE deletes to the right of the cursor, and backspace deletes to the left)
I would like to draw your attention to one very important point. If there is a blank page at the end of the document, this nuance can be neglected! Look what happens - if there is a blank page in the middle of the document, then by removing the section break we risk resetting all the stylistic settings of the next section (this includes numbering and frames...) because their unification will take place.
For such a situation, it would be correct to change the break type to “Break on the current page”, which is what I write about in the addition to this paragraph.
Gap on the current page is the solution to our problem
To delete a blank page in Word, change the type of break on the page:
- We poke the cursor into the place immediately after the break of the section that bothers us;
- On the “Layout” tab (Page Layout), click “Page Options” (was it hidden well?)
- On the “Paper Source” tab, in the “Start Section” section, change the parameter to “On the current page” and do not forget to click “OK”
After all this, the blank page will be deleted. In general, there is nothing difficult in understanding how section breaks work and why they exist at all. It is worth noting that when creating a document yourself, such situations practically do not arise - all due to the different level of knowledge of the user of the office suite
There is a table in the document
What's the problem with the table? — After the table there is always an empty paragraph, which you cannot delete in any way using all the above methods (otherwise you think why did I put it in a separate paragraph...)
If the table border fits exactly to the end of the page frame, then this invisible paragraph will go to the next page and will not allow it to be deleted - I specifically showed this in the picture below!
If you do not see the hidden paragraph, then on the “Home” tab you forgot to activate the view mode for all characters “¶”
Unfortunately, it is impossible to simply select and delete such a paragraph - a different approach and trick are needed here:
- Select this very paragraph symbol (¶) and right click select the item “Font...” (if you don’t have the skill to select this stupid character, you can use the combination CTRL + D)
- Check the “Hidden” box and don’t forget to click “ok”.
Nothing has changed and there is still a blank page with an empty paragraph after the table? — This is because you need to remove the display of hidden characters... on the “Home” tab, deactivate the “¶” mode and the empty page after the table will disappear.
This is how we were able to delete a blank page in Word after the table - nothing complicated!
What's the result?
Let's summarize - we looked at several ways to delete a blank page in Word. I think you already understand that no text means no page... however, there are nuances with sections and paragraphs that interfere with a simple perception of the contents of the document (but this is as long as you read the note) and once you understand how it works, removing a page becomes very easy!
The people's truth has been said for a long time: “what is written with a pen, everything is done by the way, you can’t cut it out with an ax.” No, cunning and resourceful comrades can, of course, object here. So to speak, to counterbalance the argument. Why not, for example, tear out the sheet with writings that are no longer needed, and throw it out - in the trash or burn it completely. It is possible, but what is not! But you will have to work hard, slog, sweat... Especially if pages need to be quietly destroyed in some report, diary, magazine or (God forbid!) art book.
It's another matter to delete a page in Word. This is where the freedom of action and fullness of sensations come from editing a virtual canvas for writing. There are no operation costs, no signs of “execution” on the sheet, be it blank or with words. In short, user grace.
However, you need to know where these same buttons are located for this very thing and how to operate them correctly. Don't know yet? Then read the instructions below. And your work in Word will become much more comfortable.
The sheet is removed from the project in various ways and functions, depending on the specific situation and user task.
How to delete a blank sheet?
1. Place the cursor on the blank page you want to delete.
2. Press the Ctrl + Shift + 8 keys simultaneously. Or click on the ¶ icon (show all characters) in the Word interface panel.
3. After activating this function, special control characters will be displayed on the blank page. They are responsible for text formatting and remain invisible in normal text display mode. Delete them using the “backspace” button (“left arrow” above “Enter”) or “Delete” (Del). After cleaning, the blank sheet will automatically disappear.
How to remove a page with text?
Method No. 1
1. Place the cursor anywhere in the text on the page you want to get rid of.
2. Left-click on the “Find” option (the leftmost block in top panel Word).
3. Select “Go to...” from the drop-down menu.
4. In the additional Find and Replace window, on the Go To tab, select the Page transition object.
5. In the “Enter number...” field, type the directive - \page.
6. Click the “Go” button. The text on the selected page will be highlighted.
7. Click “Close” and then press the “DELETE” key.
Method No. 2
1. Select all the text on the page to be deleted: while holding the left mouse button, move the cursor from the beginning to the end of the sheet.
2. Click "Delete".
How to restore a deleted page?
Left-click on the left arrow icon (cancel the operation) or press Ctrl+Z, and the disappeared page will reappear in the project.
Enjoy using Word!
If you have ever edited someone else's text documents, then you have most likely encountered various problems caused by proper work with text. One such problem is blank sheets that are not removed in the usual way. It is this problem that we will talk about in this material. Here you will learn how to delete a blank sheet in Word 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013 or 2016.
Typically, removing a blank sheet is not difficult. Usually, this is enough to place the cursor at the end of the sheet and remove all line breaks, tabs and spaces. But, in some cases, this does not work and despite all the user’s attempts, the blank sheet continues to hang in the middle of the document and cannot be deleted.
In most cases, the reason for this behavior is non-printing characters that are on a blank sheet and do not allow it to be deleted. In order to decide this problem you need to do several actions: enable the display of non-printable characters, remove all non-printable characters from the sheet, delete the empty sheet.
So, the first thing you need to do is enable the display of non-printable characters. If you are using Word 2007, 2010, 2013 or 2016, then for this you need to go to the “Home” tab and click on the button there called “Display all symbols”. In addition, you can activate this button using the key combination CTRL+SHIFT+8.
If you are using Word 2003, then you need to find this button on the toolbar. It's usually next to the drop-down list that controls the zoom of the document.
After clicking this button, all non-printable characters will begin to be displayed in the Word document. This means that now you can delete them and get rid of the empty sheet. Therefore immediately go to an empty sheet and delete everything that is there. Usually on such blank sheets you can find non-printing characters that are responsible for tabs, line breaks, as well as page breaks and section breaks. All these non-printing characters need to be removed. If you can't delete a page break or section break, simply place the cursor in front of the break and press the DELETE key.
After removing the blank sheet, section breaks can be restored if necessary. To do this, go to the “Page Layout” tab and use the “Breaks” button.
As a result of text editing, unnecessary blank pages appeared in your document, or are you unable to remove the extra sheet at the end of the document? Let's figure out what needs to be done to delete a page in MS Word.
Let's start with how to remove blank page in the middle Word document . Most often, such pages appear in a document due to large quantity unprintable characters on them - you have deleted all the text, but the hidden characters remain. This includes page breaks, spaces, and new lines.
You can enable non-printing characters by clicking on the corresponding button on the “Home” tab.
To delete them, move your mouse to the left margin of the document and select all the characters. If you have several blank pages in the middle of a document, you can place the cursor at the beginning of the page you want to delete, hold down “Shift” and place the cursor at the end of another page. Now press "Delete" or "Backspace".
Blank pages in Word in the middle of a document can also appear due to page breaks. They usually separate the beginning of a new chapter from the previous text. Or maybe you just accidentally pressed the key combination “Ctrl+Enter”.
To delete such a page, place the cursor on the last line (or at the end of the text) on previous page, then click Delete.
The blank page will be removed and the text will rise.
Now let's consider how to delete a page in Word that is located at the end of a document. By turning on non-printing characters, you will see that they are present on the page. It could even be a few signs of the beginning new line. Select them with the mouse and press the “Delete” or “Backspace” key. You can also place the cursor at the end of the text and hold down the Delete key until the empty sheet disappears.
That's all. Now you know how you can delete a page in Word. Moreover, these recommendations are applicable in any MS Word: 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013.
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