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How to delete blank last page with a header and footer?

Anonymous
2012-05-24T16:05:01+00:00

I am using Microsoft Office 2011.   I am completing a resume from a Microsoft template.  I have a blank last page with a paragraph mark in the header and the footer.  I have tried EVERYTHING to get rid of the paragraph mark.  I have tried highlighting, shift+command+forward, typing before and after, going to the last page and nothing works.  I am getting really frustrated, I tried copying it to a new document but am getting the same formatting errors.  I just spent hours putting this together and I can't fix it! I have tried deleting the header and footer all together, but there is no "delete header" that I can find.  Anyone have any tips??  Thanks in advance!

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  1. Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP 435K Reputation points
    2012-05-24T22:01:52+00:00

    It isn't the Header [or Footer] that's the problem -- even though they can be removed the blank page would still be there... it just wouldn't have a Header or Footer :-)

    What's causing the problem is that there is an empty paragraph at the top of that page, but it isn't in the Header. It's in the body of the document. It's there purposely because a Table in a Word document must be followed by one. The program automatically generates it & it cannot be deleted. Apparently there is not enough space for it at the bottom of the preceding page so it is being forced to the beginning of a new page.

    As I said, though, the empty ¶ cannot be removed but there are a number of adjustments you can make to draw it back onto the previous page. Once that happens the blank page will evaporate.

    • One of the most common contributors to this type of issue is that empty ¶s have been used to create vertical space -- a technique which is best avoided for several reasons, this being just one. If you delete one of the empty ¶s, that alone should do it.
    • Quite honestly, all empty ¶s should be removed, then create the required spacing between paragraphs by formatting the paragraphs containing text with the Format> Paragraph> Space Before/After attribute. It provides far greater & more manageable control over the flow of the document.
    • Since most of the Resumé Templates use Tables you may also be able to alter the Row Height of one or more rows.
    • You can lightly reduce either the Top or Bottom Margin [or both].
    • Other options include using a smaller font size or tighter line spacing, but those are less recommendable.
    • As a last resort, select the ending ¶, then reduce the Font Size to as little as 1 pt.

    Regards,

    Bob J.

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  1. Anonymous
    2012-05-25T01:08:02+00:00

    Selecting the last ¶ mark and formatting it as Hidden also works.

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-09-30T13:46:30+00:00

    You need to remove the page break that's above the page you want to delete and that will remove that blank page.

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  1. Anonymous
    2012-06-26T16:25:00+00:00

    My solution have been the following:

    1. Create a new Word document and slightly increase top/bottom margins...
    2. Copy the damn document and paste it to the new document ! ...
    3. scrap the old document with its damn blank page.
    4. Be happy with the new document .. No more last (blank) page!

    Of course, with a 1 page document, that was an easy one (although I spent an hour to try to figure another way... I was as stupid as the bug itself...)  - If you do have a 300 pages documents, might be less ''friendly'' to do (as you can't really do ''select all'' because you will grab your blank page!)

    No way, indeed, you can ever delete that page any other way. This is the most stupid bug I have ever seen in a word processor...

    Rob

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-10-22T07:12:04+00:00

    You can solve this problem by press the cursor at the last line of the previous page and drag the mouse to select the all blank line to the last page. Then Ctrl+x to cut out all unwanted space and hidden newline.

    Thanks

    5 people found this answer helpful.
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