How to Use Google Docs Page Break

This article explains how to create page breaks in Google Docs on a desktop and mobile app.

How to Page Break in Google Docs

Google Docs provides easy ways to make a page break. The quickest way is to use the Ctrl+Enter keyboard shortcut.

Otherwise, select where in the document you want to put the page break. If you end up placing it in the wrong spot, you can always undo it and start again.

Then, go to Insert > Break, and choose Page break. There are section break options here, too, but they’re not the same as a page break (more on that below).

If you're using the mobile app, open the document for editing, select where to apply the page break, use the plus sign to open a new menu, and then tap Page break.

How to Remove Page Breaks

Aside from Edit > Undo, which only works well if you just made the page break, there isn’t a sweeping “remove all page breaks” button in Google Docs. The next best thing is to identify where the breaks are and then delete them individually.

Finding one is easy: look for a large space between two objects, like two paragraphs or pictures. When you get to it, go to the section immediately preceding it (after any data, of course) and use the Delete key until it's gone. Or, go to the section just after the page break and use the Backspace key.

Doing this on the mobile app is even easier. Scroll until you see a horizontal line that says Page Break. Tap below it to focus the cursor there, and then use the backspace to remove it.

Page Breaks vs Section Breaks

The Insert > Break menu has two similar-sounding options: Section break (next page) and Section break (continuous). So what are they? Do they work like page breaks? Not quite.

The "next page" option starts a new section on the next page and simultaneously inserts a page break. The other one starts a new section on the same page without a page break. While a page break also jumps you onto a new page, it's not really doing the same thing.

So what are section breaks used for? Put simply; they're for dividing the document up into parts that can each have their own page styles.

For example, if you made a section break (using the "continuous" option) between the two first paragraphs, you could go to File > Page setup and change the orientation or margins on a section-by-section basis. Maybe you'd change the left and right margins for the first paragraph to be 0 inches and then set 4-inch margins on the second paragraph.

The "next page" section break is identical, but since it creates a page break, too, it's useful if you need each page in your document to have unique settings.

If you've made section breaks when you meant to make page breaks, go to View > Show section breaks to locate them. Click into the area just before the break and use the Delete key to erase it.