Incidence
of having an extra or unwanted page in a Word document may sometimes cause so
much inconvenience as it becomes hard to know how to delete it. Sometimes you
may find that at the last page of a Word document there is a completely blank
page or sometimes there may be a page with content that is entirely irrelevant
and hence it is of great use to understand how to remove or delete a page in Word so as to give a professional look to your document.
Here,
you will learn the best ways of clearing a page on Word, especially when the
page is empty, contains text or features a formatting mistake that you do not
want. Let’s get started.
Understanding Page Structure in Word
Before
we get into the steps, however, let us discuss how Microsoft Word processes
pages. Word does not have a direct key titled “Delete page” because these pages
are developed without the user’s interference by means of contents such as
texts, images, tables, and formatting marks.
Blank
Pages are sometimes generated through Formatting Marks, including, but not
limited to the use of paragraph marks (¶) and page breaks. These marks are
mostly hidden and switching them on would enable one to identify them to be
erased. They can be turned on/off using the Ctrl + Shift + 8 combination keys
of the computer keyboard.
How to Delete a Blank Page in Word
When
you get a blank page you did not for it, chances are you have an additional
paragraph mark or a page break. Here's how to remove it:
1. Delete Paragraph Marks
Sometimes
you get blank pages due to empty paragraph marks at the end of the document.
Again, to delete them, go to Tools and choose ‘Fake Paragraphs’ to turn on
formatting marks (¶), then choose all the [¶] marks and delete by pressing
Delete or Backspace. This should get rid of the blank page.
2. Remove a Page Break
If
your blank page was due to a manual page break, then scroll to that break and
click on it then delete. This will delete the break and any blank pages the
formatting has inserted in between the section.
3. Check for Section Breaks
As
with the Use Section, a Section Break can also cause the generation of blank
pages that are not desired. To delete it, go to the formatting marks tab, look
for the section break and delete from there. Exercise caution on this because
it can occasionally influence the format of your document.
How to Delete a Page With Text
If
the page you want to delete contains text or other content, follow these steps:
1. Select the Entire Page
Click
the mouse at the start of the page you wish to delete. Press the Shift key and
the Down Arrow key simultaneously in order to highlight all the contents of the
page.
2. Press Delete or Backspace
All
the features mentioned above can be removed by pressing delete or backspace at
the end of the specified text. That way, if the page was filled completely with
content, it should have removed the page itself too.
Deleting the Last Page in a Document
An
added blank page after a document is normal and is often created by paragraph
symbols or page drops or rises. To remove the last page, go to the last of the
page, click on the show/hide formatting marks, and then you delete the marks of
paragraphs that are extra or the breaks.
Troubleshooting Tips
If
you're having trouble deleting a page, consider the following:
- Use the Navigation Pane: To assist in locating extra pages turn the Operation Navigation Pane in the View tab.
- Check Hidden Elements: Sometimes it is useful to scroll, because sometimes extra pages appear with letters of other tables, text boxes, or footnotes.
- Adjust Margins: Shaded areas or margins
in a printed manuscript, or even the page layout parameters set as a certain
number of points, may result in inedible and quite unnecessary extra pages.
Look for these ones under
the Layout sub tab.
Conclusion
Every
person, whoever works with Microsoft Word, should learn how to delete a page
because it will take less time and the document will look neater. No matter if
you’re starting with an empty document or it has unwanted paragraph marks or
formatting problems, these steps will make it a child’s play. Also, relying on
the automatic save feature is a good practice since it allows to save progress from time to time and avoid some important changes being lost due to an
accidental click. Otherwise, I will scroll through the document a few times and
see whether there are some errors which I missed earlier. Learning these
techniques should ease the work with Word and enable quicker edits as well as
ensure a more professional looking layout.
