How to Delete a Blank Page in Google Docs

A blank page in Google Docs is usually caused by extra paragraph marks, a manual page break, a section break, or paragraph pagination settings. The fastest fix is to click at the start of the blank page and press Backspace or Delete. If the page stays put, make the hidden formatting visible so you can remove the item that is forcing the extra page.

Try the quickest way to delete the blank page

1. Open the document in Google Docs.
2. Click at the very beginning of the blank page.
3. Press Backspace or Delete until the blank page disappears.

This works when the page exists only because of one or more empty paragraphs. If deleting starts removing real text, undo the change and use the formatting checks below instead.

Show hidden formatting to find the real cause

Google Docs can display non-printing characters in blue, including paragraph breaks, line breaks, page breaks, section breaks, column breaks, tabs, and spaces. Open View > Show non-printing characters. Google documents this option in its Docs formatting help.

Delete extra empty paragraphs

If the blank page contains one or more paragraph marks, select those marks and press Backspace or Delete. On a blank page at the end of a document, you can also place the cursor after the last real character on the previous page and delete forward until the extra paragraph is gone.

Remove a manual page break

A page break intentionally starts the next content on a new page. When non-printing characters are visible, it is labeled clearly. Click just below the page break and press Backspace or Delete until it is removed. This matches Google's current page-break instructions.

Check paragraph pagination settings

Sometimes there is no removable empty paragraph or page break. Instead, Google Docs may be keeping text together and pushing the whole block to the next page. Select the paragraph immediately before or after the unwanted gap, then open Format > Line & paragraph spacing. If appropriate for your layout, turn off Keep with next, Keep lines together, or Prevent single lines.

Google explains that these options control whether headings stay with following text, whether all lines of a paragraph stay on one page, and whether a single line is left at the top or bottom of a page. They are available in Pages format, not Pageless format. See Google's paragraph formatting guide.

Be careful with section breaks

If the marker says Section break, deleting it can merge two sections and may change section-specific margins, headers, footers, or page numbering. Remove a section break only if you no longer need that section boundary. If the document uses different layouts or numbering in different sections, first check the formatting on both sides of the break.

If you do not need page boundaries, use Pageless format

For a document meant mainly for on-screen reading, you can switch to continuous scrolling. On a computer, choose File > Page setup > Pageless > OK. Google also provides a Format menu shortcut for switching between Pages and Pageless. In Pageless format, the document scrolls continuously instead of displaying page breaks.

Pageless is not a universal fix, because it removes or limits page-based features such as headers and footers, page numbers, columns, and watermarks. Google's Pages and Pageless documentation lists the differences.

Blank page troubleshooting checklist

On Android, iPhone, and iPad, Google also lets you remove a manual page break by tapping below the break and deleting it. For complex layout problems, the desktop editor is easier because you can show non-printing characters and inspect paragraph settings before changing the document.