How to Remove a page break from a Word document

How to Remove a page break from a Word document

 

In Microsoft Word, a page break is an invisible marker that separates one page from the next. This formatting mark allows text to flow smoothly from page to page. Also, when you print the document, the printer uses the page break to determine where the first page ends and the second begins.

A page break, in short, controls the layout of your document and allows you to place your content on the appropriate page. Let’s look at how to insert a page break and then how to remove one in Word.

 

 

Page Breaks are classified into two types.
In Word, there are two types of page breaks and a few other document breaks. We’ll talk about page breaks today.

When you move from one page to the next, Word automatically inserts page breaks.

You can insert manual page breaks anywhere in the document to break the document and advance to the next page.

You cannot disable automatic page breaks, but you can change where they appear. You control the position of manual page breaks because you are adding them yourselves.

How to Insert a Page Break

When you start using page breaks, you’ll notice that this almost hidden feature in Word makes formatting your document easier.

For example, you can use a page break to place a table or image on a new page rather than crowding it on the previous one.

 

To manually insert them into your document:

 

Set your cursor to the point where you want one page to end and the next to begin.

Navigate to the Ribbon > Insert > Page Break (in the Pages group)

Keyboard Shortcut: You can quickly insert a page break with the keyboard by pressing Ctrl + Enter.

To reveal the hidden page break marker in your document, go to Home > Paragraph Group > Show/Hide button.

The Page Break button in Microsoft Word
How to Get Rid of a Page Break in Word
A manual page break can be inserted anywhere in a Word document to force the text to begin at the top of the next page. But, in Word, how do you delete a page break?

Here are three quick methods for removing page breaks in Word.

 

Here are three quick methods for removing page breaks in Word.

Method 1: Using Delete, Remove Page Breaks in Word
Open your Microsoft Word document.
Return to Home > Click the Show/Hide button to reveal all non-printable hidden marks in the document, such as page breaks, spaces, and non-breaking spaces.
To remove a page break, double-click it and press Delete.
In Word, remove the page break.
You can now hide the other formatting marks in the document by clicking the Show/Hide button again.
Instead of double-clicking, place your cursor just before the page break marker and press Delete.
How do I restore a deleted page break? As previously explained, press Ctrl + Z to undo the removal or add it again.

Method 2: Using Find and Replace, Remove a Page Break in Word
To open the Find and Replace box, press Ctrl + H.
Word’s Find and Replace dialogue box
Choose the Replace tab. Click the Find what text box and then the More button to see all of your options.
Then, on the Special menu, select Manual Page Break.
Using the Search and Replace dialogue, remove a page break in Word.
Finally, leave the Replace box empty and click Replace All to replace every page break in the document with a blank space at once.
Also, disable Track Changes to remove manual page breaks.

When Track Changes is enabled, you cannot delete manual page breaks. To disable Track Changes, follow these steps:

 

Navigate to the Ribbon’s Review tab.
In the Tracking group, select Track Changes > Track Changes.
To disable tracking, select Track Changes from the drop-down menu.
Alternatively, you can disable Track Changes by pressing Ctrl + Shift + E.
Control Your Layout by Managing an Automatic Page Break
It is not possible to disable automatic page breaks. However, you can control their position in Word by using the Pagination options. This allows you to modify how Word handles paragraphs across page breaks and manage the space between paragraphs.

Go to Ribbon > Home > Paragraph > Paragraph Settings (click on the tiny arrow) > Line and Page Breaks tab to find the Pagination option.

Word Paragraph Options
You can also select Paragraph from the menu by right-clicking anywhere on the page.

Choose the paragraphs to which you want to apply the settings. Then, in the Line and Page Breaks settings, check one or all of the following options:

Widow/Orphan: The last line of a paragraph at the top of a page is referred to as a “widow.” The first line at the bottom of a page is “Orphan.” If you check this box, Word will place at least two lines of a paragraph at the top or bottom of a page.

 

Keep with next: This option prevents gaps between paragraphs that should be kept together. For example, instead of having the header on one page and the paragraph on another, you can keep the heading and paragraph below it together.
Keep lines together: This helps to bind lines together and prevents page breaks in the middle of paragraphs.
Page break before: This option inserts a page break before a particular paragraph and allows you to display it on a new page.

Troubleshooting Word Document Page Breaks
The above settings are also important if you can’t understand why a layout is there, even with the Show/Hide button turned on. One of the most common causes of page break errors, for example, is the disabled Keep with next option, which breaks a paragraph or a table across consecutive pages.

When the Keep lines together option is enabled, Word does not insert a page break in a text block. As Word moves the block or paragraph to the next page, this can result in a lot of whitespaces.

The Value of Page Breaks
If you don’t use Page Breaks at every opportunity, you’re probably using the Enter or Backspace keys to shift content down or up and fine-tune your layout. Instead of using the Enter key, learn to insert page breaks using the Ctrl + Enter keys.

This may solve the problem temporarily, but it will reoccur when you add or delete more content because the new lines cause everything to shift back to its original position. And then you have to redo everything (and again).