How to Remove a Page Break in Word: 4 Methods

Microsoft Word inserts page breaks to control where content starts on a new page — but when you need to remove a page break in Word, the wrong method can leave blank pages, broken layouts, or formatting issues that are hard to track down. If you’re cleaning up a report, thesis, or resume and the document keeps jumping to a new page, see the guide on how to remove formatting marks in Word for related cleanup tips before you start.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to display hidden page breaks, remove them one at a time or all at once, and fix the sneaky “Page Break Before” setting that causes breaks even when none appear to exist.

What Is a Page Break in Word?

A page break tells Word to move everything after a certain point onto a new page. Unlike a paragraph that simply runs out of room, a page break is a deliberate instruction. There are two types, and they behave very differently when you try to remove them.

• Manual page breaks — inserted by you (or a previous editor) to force a section onto a new page.
• Automatic page breaks — created by Word whenever content reaches the bottom of a page.
• Manual breaks can be deleted. Automatic breaks adjust on their own as content changes.

How to Display Page Breaks in Word

Before you remove anything, make page breaks visible. Otherwise you’re guessing.

Steps:

1. Open your Word document.
2. Click the Home tab.
3. In the Paragraph group, click Show/Hide (¶).

👉 Word now shows every page break, paragraph mark, space, and section break as a visible symbol. A manual page break appears as a dotted line labelled “Page Break”.

How to Remove a Page Break in Word: Step-by-Step

Word gives you four ways to remove a page break, depending on whether you’re fixing one break, dozens of them, or a hidden setting that’s causing the problem. All four work in Word 2016, 2019, 2021, and Microsoft 365.

Method 1: How to Remove a Page Break in Word Using Backspace

The fastest method for a single break.

Steps:

1. Click immediately to the left of the “Page Break” marker.
2. Press Backspace.

👉 That’s it. The break disappears and your text shifts back into place. No menus, no dialog boxes.

Method 2: How to Remove a Page Break in Word by Deleting It Directly

Useful when you want to confirm exactly which break you’re removing before it’s gone.

Steps:

1. Make sure Show/Hide (¶) is switched on.
2. Click anywhere on the “Page Break” line to select it — it highlights fully.
3. Press Delete.

👉 The break is removed instantly, and you’ve seen exactly what you deleted — useful if a document has several breaks close together.

Method 3: How to Remove a Page Break in Word Using Find and Replace

Manually deleting breaks one by one doesn’t scale. If a long document has page breaks scattered throughout — common in documents pasted from other sources — Find and Replace clears all of them in one go. This is especially useful if you’re restructuring a long report — pair it with the guide on how to create a table of contents in Word once the layout is clean.

Steps:

1. Press Ctrl + H to open Find and Replace.
2. In Find what, type:

^m

3. Leave Replace with empty.
4. Click Replace All.

👉 Word strips out every manual page break in the document at once. For a 50-page report, this takes about two seconds.

Method 4: How to Remove a Page Break in Word Using “Page Break Before”

Sometimes a paragraph jumps to a new page even with no visible break, no symbol, nothing Find and Replace can catch. The cause is a paragraph setting called Page Break Before — Word starts that paragraph on a fresh page automatically, every time. Headings are frequent culprits here, especially in documents using styled chapter headings — see the guide on how to create automatic chapters in Microsoft Word if your document relies on heading styles.

Steps:

1. Click into the paragraph that’s jumping to a new page.
2. Click the small arrow in the bottom-right of the Paragraph group.
3. Open the Line and Page Breaks tab.
4. Untick Page break before.
5. Click OK.

👉 The paragraph snaps back to its normal position immediately. No menus, no clicks needed afterwards — the change applies the moment you hit OK.

Common Problems When Removing Page Breaks in Word

The page break won’t delete

Turn on Show/Hide (¶) first. You can’t reliably select or delete what you can’t see.

A blank page remains after deleting the break

Extra paragraph marks or a leftover section break are usually the cause. Delete the empty paragraph marks one at a time, or see the guide on how to delete an empty page in Microsoft Word for the full fix.

Text still starts on a new page after deleting the break

That’s Page Break Before, not a manual break. Use Method 4 above.

Find and Replace doesn’t remove anything

The document likely contains section breaks rather than page breaks. Section breaks control page layout (margins, orientation, headers) as well as starting a new page, and Word treats them separately from manual page breaks.

Pro Tips for Removing Page Breaks in Word

• Run Find and Replace with ^m before formatting a document someone else wrote — it’s the fastest way to clear inherited breaks.
• Leave Show/Hide (¶) on while editing long documents. It costs nothing and saves you guessing later.
• If removing breaks leaves stray blank pages at the end of a document, see the guide on how to delete an extra page in Word — and if you’re tidying things up, double-check section breaks too — they’re a different fix.
• Word treats Ctrl + Enter as the shortcut for inserting a manual page break — useful to know if you’re trying to avoid creating new ones while editing.

FAQs

Conclusion

Most of the time, you can remove a page break in Word with a single Backspace. The other three methods exist for the cases that aren’t that simple — bulk cleanups, hidden Page Break Before settings, and blank pages that won’t budge.

Turn on Show/Hide (¶) before you start, work through the method that matches your situation, and check the layout once you’re done — for a polished final result, also check your document margins in Word are still set correctly after any large structural edits.

Related Tutorials

• How to Delete an Extra Page in Word
• How to Delete an Empty Page in Microsoft Word
• How to Remove Page Numbers in Word