Word uses page breaks to separate one page from the next. This may be necessary to position a table or an image completely on a page, without partly spilling over to the next page.
Printers use page breaks to know when to start with fresh paper. Useful as they are, page breaks can mess up a Word document, if their location has changed due to say, multiple edits—necessitating their removal.
Most users face trouble when removing page breaks.
They may be following the correct sequence for removing the breaks, but somehow, it does not work.
Stubborn page breaks are mainly due to enabling of track changes.
2 ways to remove Page breaks in MS Word
- Remove page breaks individually
- Remove page breaks through Find and Replace
Let us start.
Method #1: Remove page breaks individually.
Step #1: Open Word document
Open the Word document from which you want to remove page breaks. Page breaks are normally not visible.
Click on the Home tab on the menu bar on top to change the ribbon.
In the Paragraph section, click on the Show/Hide button. Word will make all hidden characters visible, including page breaks.
Step #2: Select the page break
Use your mouse cursor to select the page break. Place the cursor at the beginning of the page break and while holding down the left mouse button, drag the cursor to the end.
You can also select the page break by placing the cursor at the beginning and pressing Shift+End together on your keyboard.
Yet another way of selecting the page break would be to place the cursor at the end of the page break and press Shift+Home together on your keyboard.
Step #3: Turn off Track changes
Click on the Review tab on the menu bar at the top to change the ribbon.
In the Tracking section, check if the Track Changes icon is gray, which means Word is tracking any change you make to the document.
Click on the icon to remove the graying. You can also remove the graying on the Track changes icon by pressing Ctrl+Shift+E together on your keyboard.
This will turn off Track changes.
Once you have turned off track changes, and selected the page break by any one of the ways above, simply press the Delete key on your keyboard. Word will delete the page break and move the next paragraph closer.
Method #2: Remove page breaks through Find and Replace.
Step #1: Open Word document
Open the Word document from which you want to remove page breaks. Page breaks are normally not visible.
Click on the Home tab on the menu bar on top to change the ribbon. In the Paragraph section, click on the Show/Hide button.
Word will make all hidden characters visible, including page breaks.
Step #2: Turn off Track changes
Click on the Review tab on the menu bar at the top to change the ribbon. In the Tracking section, check if the Track Changes icon is gray, which means Word is tracking any change you make to the document.
Click on the icon to remove the graying. You can also remove the graying on the Track changes icon by pressing Ctrl+Shift+E together on your keyboard.
This will turn off Track changes.
Step #3: Open dialog Find and Replace
Click on the Home tab on the menu bar on top to change the ribbon. In the Editing section, click on the Replace tab.
Word will open the Find and Replace dialog box. You can also open the Find and Replace dialog box by pressing Ctrl+H together on your keyboard.
Step #4: Expand the Find and Replace dialog box
Click on the Replace tab on top. Click on the More tab to expand the dialog box.
Step #5: Select Manual Page Break
In the expanded dialog box, click on the Special tab to show more choices. Click on Manual Page Break.
Step #6: Replace all page breaks
Word will return to the Find and Replace dialog box. Notice it has entered a ^m in the space in front of Find what. Leave empty the space in front of Replace with. Click on the Replace all tab.
Step #7: Close the feedback
Word will provide feedback on the number of page breaks it has removed. Click on Ok to close the feedback, and return to Find and Replace dialog.
Step #8: Return to document
Click on Close to close the Find and Replace dialog and return to the document. Word has removed all page breaks in the document.
Conclusion
Although page breaks are useful for formatting a Word document, they can also be a nuisance at times, especially when the formatting goes awry. At such times, the best option is to delete the page breaks, and reintroduce them afresh. We have shown you how to delete page breaks easily, and in a step-by-step process.