To remove a section break in desktop Word, turn on Home > Show/Hide ¶, place the cursor immediately before the line marked Section Break, and press Delete. Save a copy first: Word combines the two sections and applies the section formatting from after the deleted break to the combined section. Check headers, page numbers, margins, columns, and orientation afterward.
Find and delete the right break
- Save a copy of the document if its layout matters. A section break can carry settings that are easy to overlook until you print or share the file.
- On the Home tab, select Show/Hide ¶. Look for a labeled line such as Section Break (Next Page) or Section Break (Continuous). Draft view can make a difficult break easier to find, but it is not required.
- Click just before the labeled break and press Delete. On a Mac, if the key deletes backward, select the break itself and press Delete instead. Remove one break at a time so you can check the result.
- Review the pages on both sides of the former boundary. Check page orientation, margins, columns, headers and footers, and page-number sequence. If the result is wrong, press Ctrl+Z or Command+Z immediately.
Microsoft’s section-break instructions explain the crucial formatting rule: the merged section uses the settings from the section that followed the break. The text may flow together while the earlier pages unexpectedly adopt a later section’s layout.
Decide whether to remove or change it
A section break controls document structure. A Next Page break starts a new section on a new page; a Continuous break starts a section on the same page. Odd Page and Even Page breaks may insert a blank-looking page so the next section begins on the requested side. If the break is needed for a landscape page, different columns, a new numbering sequence, or independent headers, deleting it can undo that design.
If you only want to stop a header or footer from repeating, inspect Link to Previous in the later section instead of deleting the break. If your aim is merely to remove an unwanted blank page, first identify whether it contains empty paragraphs, a manual page break, or a section break. Our guide to viewing page breaks explains those markers. Delete only the structure you no longer need.
When the formatting changes unexpectedly
If earlier pages switch from portrait to landscape, gain different margins, or pick up a later header, undo the deletion. Record the settings you need in each section, then decide whether to retain the break or recreate the desired formatting in the merged section. A document with first-page headers, chapter numbering, or different page orientations usually needs a section boundary somewhere.
When a break appears stuck, click before the actual labeled line rather than the end of the visible page. Turn on Show/Hide so you do not confuse a paragraph mark or page break with a section break. If Word for the web will not let you remove the boundary, open the file in the desktop app; Microsoft notes that section-break deletion requires desktop Word. If editing is restricted, ask the document owner for an editable copy rather than trying random formatting changes.
For a long document, inspect every later section boundary too. Removing one break can move text and alter where a subsequent section starts. If a table of contents or cross-reference displays old page numbers after the change, update the field and check it again in Print Preview. That catches layout changes a quick glance at the edited page may miss.
Why is the text still on a new page after deleting the break?
Something else is probably forcing the page change. With Show/Hide ¶ turned on, look for a separate Page Break line or a stack of empty paragraph marks just after the old boundary and delete them. If there is no marker, click in the first paragraph on the new page, open the Paragraph dialog, select the Line and Page Breaks tab, and clear Page break before.
How do I remove all section breaks at once?
If a document has many unwanted section breaks, Find and Replace in desktop Word can remove them in one pass. Use this only when you are sure none of the sections are needed, because every section’s layout settings merge together.
- Press Ctrl+H to open Find and Replace on the Replace tab.
- Select More, then Special > Section Break. Word enters ^b in the Find what box.
- Leave Replace with empty.
- Select Replace All.
Word reports how many replacements it made. Review the whole document afterward, and press Ctrl+Z if the layout breaks. On Windows, Ctrl+Shift+8 also toggles Show/Hide ¶, which helps you confirm that the breaks are gone.
Remove a section break in Word for Mac
- On the Home tab, click the ¶ button (Show all nonprinting characters), or press Command + 8.
- Find the line labeled Section Break.
- Click at the very start of that line so the break is selected, or drag across it.
- Press Delete. On a MacBook keyboard, fn + Delete deletes forward if the cursor sits just before the break.
To remove every break at once on a Mac, choose Edit > Find > Advanced Find and Replace, select the Replace tab, type ^b in the Find what box, leave Replace with empty, and click Replace All. The same caution applies: the merged sections take one set of layout settings.
Verify the final document
Scroll from the page before the deleted break through the page after it, then use Print Preview. Confirm that page numbers, headings, headers, and the first paragraph after the boundary are where you expect. Save and reopen the file if you will share it. The goal is a correct layout, not just a missing dotted line.
Matt has been writing about Microsoft Windows and other Microsoft products since the days of Windows XP. He spends much of his time writing for sites like WindowBrain.com