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How to remove all empty paragraphs in Word?

Author Sun Last modified

Empty paragraphs in a Word document can make it look messy and unprofessional. These unwanted blank spaces often appear due to formatting issues or when copying text from other sources. Manually removing each empty paragraph can be tedious, especially in long documents. Fortunately, there are efficient ways to quickly remove all empty paragraphs from your document.

In this tutorial, we'll show you how to eliminate these empty paragraphs in Word, making your document cleaner and easier to read.

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Remove all empty paragraphs with Find and Replace function

Removing empty paragraphs one by one can be tedious, but Word's Find and Replace function simplifies this process:

  1. Click Home > Replace to open the Find and Replace utility, or press Ctrl + H as a shortcut.
  2. Click the More>> button to reveal additional options.

    Find and Replace dialog box with More button highlighted

  3. Place the cursor in the Find What field, then select Paragraph Mark from the Special drop-down menu.

    Paragraph Mark selected from the Special drop-down list

  4. After selecting Paragraph Mark, the symbol “^p” will appear in the Find What field.
  5. Copy the symbol “^p” again in the Find What field to make it “^p^p” and click Replace All to remove empty paragraphs.

Note: Using “^p” will remove all paragraph marks, potentially merging text into a single paragraph. The “^p^p” removes only empty paragraphs, leaving text properly separated.

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Remove all empty paragraphs with Kutools for Word

Removing all empty paragraphs in Word using the built-in features requires multiple steps, and macros can be too complex for many users. Fortunately, Kutools for Word provides a quick and easy way to remove all empty paragraphs from your document.

Kutools for Word, equipped with AI 🤖, offers over 100 handy features to simplify your tasks.

To remove empty paragraphs:

  • From the entire document: Click Kutools > Paragraphs > Remove All Empty Paragraph Marks in Selected Ranges.
  • From a specific section: First select the section, then click Kutools > Paragraphs > Remove All Empty Paragraph Marks in Selected Ranges.

    Remove All Empty Paragraph Marks in Selected Ranges option on the Kutools tab on the ribbon

After clicking Remove Empty Paragraph Marks, all empty paragraphs will be removed from the selected range or the entire document.

Document with empty paragraphs

Arrow

Document with empty paragraphs removed

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Remove all empty paragraphs using VBA

If you prefer using a macro, the following VBA code can help you remove all empty paragraphs in a Word document. Follow these steps:

  1. Press Alt + F11 to open the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window.
  2. Click Module on the Insert tab.
    Module options selected from the Insert dropdown
  3. Copy and paste the following VBA code into the Module window. 
    Sub Deleemptyparagraphs()
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find
.Text = "^p^p"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = False
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchByte = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchWildcards = False
.MatchFuzzy = False
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
End Sub
  4. Click Run button Run button or press F5 to execute the script.

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