If you can’t remove something from a document

Blue dots between words, and other blue symbols, are formatting marks (they don’t appear in print).

• Choose View > Hide Invisibles (from the View menu at the top of the screen, not from the View menu in the toolbar).

For more information about invisibles, see View formatting symbols and layout.

These are layout marks to show the perimeter of body text and the location of headers and footers.

• Choose View > Hide Layout (from the View menu at the top of the screen, not from the View button in the toolbar).

For more information about layout view, see View formatting symbols and layout.

A highlight is added to text when it has a comment.

• Click the highlighted text, then click Delete in the comment.

If the highlight is still on the text, see Add a highlight effect to text to learn how to remove the highlight effect.

Do one of the following:

• Remove all headers and footers from the document: Click in the toolbar, click the Document tab, then deselect the Header or Footer checkbox.

• Remove headers and footers from just one section of the document: Click in the toolbar, click the Section tab, then deselect the Header or Footer checkbox.

See Add headers, footers, and page numbers for more information.

Pages doesn’t have a setting to show a header or footer on the first page only. To do this, you need to make the first page its own document section with the header or footer showing. Then hide the header or footer in all other sections. To learn about creating sections, see Format sections.

• Click the object, then press Delete on your keyboard. If you still can’t delete it, try the following:

  • If a small x appears at the corners or ends of the object when you click it, it’s locked. Choose Arrange > Unlock (from the Arrange menu at the top of your screen), then press Delete on your keyboard.

  • If you can’t select the object at all, it may be a master object placed on the background of the page. To make it selectable, choose Arrange > Section Masters > Make Master Objects Selectable (from the Arrange menu at the top of your screen). Click the object, then press Delete on your keyboard.

    Note: Removing a master object removes it from every page in the section. If you want to make any remaining master objects unselectable again, choose Arrange > Section Masters > Make Master Objects Selectable (the checkmark is removed from the menu item).

The background color of a predesigned template is a master object that appears on all pages of the document or section.

• Use the instructions above (in about deleting a shape, line, or image) to make the master object selectable, then unlock it. When the object is unlocked, you can either delete the color (it’s actually a shape with a color fill applied), or choose a new color fill.

If the empty page is at the beginning of the document, you may have placed the insertion point at the beginning of the document then added a page break.

• Click at the beginning of the document (before the first text or graphic), then press the Delete key on your keyboard to remove the page break.

You might be using the wrong method to add or delete a page, depending on whether you're working in a word-processing or page layout document document. The process for adding and deleting pages is different for each type of document. To learn how to delete pages for both of these types of documents, see Add, delete, or rearrange pages.