2

On the last page of my Word document that I have text, I have a table. This table ends about an inch from the bottom of that page. However, Word has then decided that it will insert a completely blank page after this. I do not want that blank page.

I've tried for days/weeks to get rid of this page, turning on show formatting to view hidden characters and to see if some formatting element can be removed, looking up many webpages to try and find a solution etc. If I remove the table, the final blank page goes, but as before, the table itself has about an inch of free space before the end of the page, so why would it be causing this hanging page to appear after the table?

To reiterate, there is no part of the table on that empty page, or text; it is just a completely unnecessary and unwanted final blank page that Word has decided on its own to insert, and I cannot find any way to remove.

Note that if I do press "Show/Hide formatting", a black solid square and the inverted 'P' paragraph indicator is on that last page, but I cannot find a way to remove these.

How can I remove this redundant blank page?

Improve this question

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
2

Change the font size of the final blank paragraph to 1

See also Deleting "Blank" Pages by Word MVP Suzanne Barnhill. Go to the final blank paragraph in your document. All tables require a paragraph following a table. Select that and change the font size to 1.

Improve this answer
2
  • I think this is actually the best solution; it is the least complex and it worked perfectly. The requirement of the paragraph object is annoying, but if I can suppress it to font size 1 then the problem is effectively disposed of.
    – YorSubs
    Commented Apr 10 at 5:10
  • 1
    Yes, it is annoying. This has been a problem as long as Word has been out there. It seems to be built into the Table object. Suzanne' website is very useful in dealing with some of Word's conundrums. Here is my page on Tables: addbalance.com/usersguide/tables.htm
    – Charles Kenyon
    Commented Apr 10 at 18:34
1

Word requires a paragraph after a table. There's no way around this.

You can work around this issue as follows:

  • before the table, insert a section break (next page)
  • then, reduce the bottom margin of your last page, by going to Layout -> Margins -> Custom Margins, (as described here) making sure that in the Apply to box is selected This section.

Like this, the paragraph mark will stay below the table, but still on your last page.

Improve this answer
1
  • ok, so the Section Break means that the Custom Margin will only be applied to this page, so that the (invisible) paragraph mark can fit onto the page. It's quite strange/awkward that Word requires that mark there, but maybe it's for historical reasons. And in any case, Word does so many useful things for me that I guess I just have to live with this oddity. Thanks for the workaround.
    – YorSubs
    Commented Apr 9 at 10:32
0

edit document - ctrl-end - then backspace until cursor is right behind (not below) last content in the table - then try print - if there is still a blank page, then edit the pagelayout margins: make bottom smaller

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .