How to Automatically Hide White Space Between Pages in Microsoft Word

When writing a lengthy document in Microsoft Word, you likely use the standard “Print Layout” view. This view attempts to visually simulate a physical sheet of paper by placing a large, empty white margin at the top and bottom of every single page. While this is helpful for visualizing how the final printed document will look, it creates unnecessary visual clutter and forces you to constantly scroll past huge gaps of empty space when reading on a computer monitor. You can easily hide this white space to create a seamless, continuous flow of text.

How to Hide White Space Using the Mouse Shortcut

Microsoft built a hidden shortcut directly into the document view that allows you to toggle the margins on and off in a single click.

1. Open your document in Microsoft Word.
2. Scroll down so that the gap between two pages is visible on your screen.
3. Hover your mouse cursor directly over the grey gap separating the bottom of one page and the top of the next.
4. Your cursor will change from a standard arrow into an icon showing two small arrows pointing towards each other. A small tooltip will appear saying “Double-click to hide white space.”
5. Double-click your left mouse button.

The grey gap and the top/bottom margins will instantly collapse. The text from page one will now flow directly into the text from page two, separated only by a thin, solid black line indicating the page break. To restore the margins for printing visualization, simply hover over that black line until the cursor changes to arrows pointing away from each other, and double-click again.

How to Hide White Space via the Options Menu

If you have trouble triggering the double-click shortcut with your mouse, you can achieve the exact same result through the Word settings menu.

1. Click on File in the top left corner, then select Options at the bottom.
2. In the left-hand sidebar, click on Display.
3. Under the Page display options section, locate the checkbox labelled Show white space between pages in Print Layout view.
4. Uncheck the box.
5. Click OK.

This setting is persistent, meaning Microsoft Word will remember your preference and apply it to all future documents you open on that computer.