How to Delete a Picture in Word

To delete a picture in Word, click the picture once to select it, then press the Delete key. On a Mac, Microsoft says to press Backspace. If the picture will not select, it is usually in the header, behind text, or set as a watermark, and the sections below show how to reach it.

These steps follow Microsoft’s Replace or delete a picture in Microsoft Office article, checked in October 2026. Microsoft lists it for Word for Microsoft 365, Word 2021, Word 2019 and Word 2016 on Windows, and Word for Microsoft 365, Word 2021 and Word 2019 on Mac. The menu names below are from the desktop app. Word for the web and the phone apps have fewer tools, so open the file in the desktop app if a command is missing.

How to Delete a Picture in Word

You only need to be able to edit the document. Nothing is removed from your computer: deleting a picture takes it out of this document only, and the original image file stays wherever it was saved.

1. Open the document and scroll to the picture.
2. Click the picture once. Sizing handles (small circles or squares on the corners and edges) appear around it, which tells you it is selected.
3. Press Delete on Windows, or Backspace on a Mac.

Result: the picture disappears and the text around it closes up. If you removed the wrong one, press Ctrl + Z (Command + Z on a Mac) straight away to bring it back.

How to Delete Several Pictures at Once

Microsoft’s Windows steps say to press and hold Ctrl while you click each picture you want to remove, then press Delete.

There is one catch. Word places pictures in two ways, and it matters here:

• In Line with Text (inline): Word treats the picture like a single text character. It stays at the spot in the text where it was inserted.
• With Text Wrapping (often called floating): options such as Square, Tight, Behind Text and In Front of Text. The picture is anchored to a paragraph and text flows around, over or under it.

Microsoft notes that if you are unable to multi-select pictures, their layout is probably inline with text. In that case, delete the inline pictures one at a time, or change each one to a wrapping option first. To see which kind a picture is, select it and then select the Layout Options icon beside it. Our guide on how to wrap text around a picture covers those options in detail.

What to Do If You Can’t Select the Picture

A picture that ignores your clicks is normally sitting in a different layer of the page. Try these in order and stop when the picture selects.

Use Select Objects

1. On the Home tab, select Select in the Editing group.
2. Choose Select Objects. Microsoft describes this as the tool for objects that are hidden, stacked, or behind text.
3. Move the pointer over the picture. When it changes to a selection arrow, click the picture.
4. Press Delete.

Microsoft documents this in Select a shape or other object in Word. If several objects are stacked, select the top one and press Tab to move through the stack.

Use the Selection Pane

The Selection Pane is a side panel that lists the objects in your document by name, so you can pick one without clicking it on the page.

1. Go to Home > Select > Selection Pane, or press Alt + F10.
2. Click the names in the list until the picture you want shows its sizing handles on the page.
3. Press Delete.

Microsoft suggests this in Wrap text and move pictures in Word for a picture that is behind another object, such as a block of text. The pane also has an eye icon that hides an object. Hiding is not deleting: Microsoft warns that a hidden object stays in the file.

Check the header and footer

Microsoft says a picture you cannot select is probably a background picture stored in the header. It can appear in the middle of the page and still belong to the header.

1. Go to Insert > Header > Edit Header. You can also double-click near the top of the page.
2. Click the picture. In header and footer view it should now select.
3. Press Delete.
4. Select Close Header and Footer.

Warning: a header picture normally repeats, so deleting it removes it from every page that uses that header, not just the page you are looking at.

Check for a watermark

A faint logo or word behind the text may be a watermark. Select Design > Watermark > Remove Watermark. On a Mac, select Design > Watermark and choose No watermark in the Insert Watermark box.

If that does not work, Microsoft’s Remove a watermark article says to double-click near the top of the page to open the header area, point at the watermark until you see a 4-way arrow, select it, and press Delete. We have a longer walkthrough on how to remove a watermark in Word.

Check that the document can be edited

If nothing in the document can be changed, the file may be open for viewing only. Microsoft’s Enable editing in your document article gives two things to try: go to File > Info > Protect Document and clear Always Open Read-Only, or use the mode menu in the upper-right corner to switch from Viewing or Reviewing to Editing.

Microsoft adds that some editing restrictions are set by the document owner or your organization and cannot be changed on your computer. In that case, ask the owner for an editable copy.

How to Delete All Pictures at Once

Word’s Find and Replace box can search for pictures with the code ^g (a caret, then a lowercase g) and replace each one with nothing. Microsoft’s current help pages describe Find and Replace but do not list this code, so treat the details below as commonly reported behavior rather than official documentation.

Before you start: save a copy of the document under a new name. This method is reported to remove charts and graphs along with pictures, and it does not ask you to confirm each one.

1. On the Home tab, select Replace, or press Ctrl + H.
2. Click in Find what and type ^g. You can also select More > Special > Graphic to insert the code.
3. Leave Replace with completely empty.
4. Select Replace All. To decide picture by picture instead, select Find Next, then Replace only for the ones you want gone.

Result: Word should show how many replacements it made, which is the number of pictures removed. Press Ctrl + Z (Command + Z on a Mac) if the result is not what you wanted.

If some pictures are left behind

The ^g code is reported to find only inline pictures, the kind Word treats as a text character. Pictures that use text wrapping are skipped. Delete the leftovers by hand with Ctrl + click and Delete, or pick them from the Selection Pane.

If Replace All finds nothing at all, check that the g is lowercase, that Replace with is empty, and that Use wildcards under More is not selected.

Removing pictures can leave a blank page where they used to be. If that happens, see how to delete an empty page in Word.

How to Replace a Picture Instead of Deleting It

If you want a different image in the same spot, swapping is quicker than deleting and inserting again.

1. Select the picture.
2. Select the Picture Format tab (called Format in some versions), then Change Picture.
3. Choose where the replacement picture should come from.
4. Find the image you want, then select Insert.

Result: the new picture takes the old one’s place in the document.

How to Get a Deleted Picture Back

Press Ctrl + Z on Windows or Command + Z on a Mac, or select Undo on the Quick Access Toolbar. Microsoft says you can undo changes even after saving, as long as you are within the undo limit, which is the last 100 actions by default.

If the document has been closed since then, undo is no longer available. For a file stored in OneDrive or SharePoint, open it, click the file name at the top of the window, and select Version history. Open an older version and select Restore. Microsoft explains this in View previous versions of Office files and notes that version history only works for files saved in those two places. Otherwise, insert the picture again from the original image file.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does deleting a picture in Word delete it from my computer?

No. Deleting a picture only removes it from the document. The original image file stays wherever it was saved, so you can insert it again later.

Why can’t I click on a picture in Word?

Microsoft says a picture you cannot select is probably a background picture in the header, or it is behind another object such as a block of text. Open the header with Insert > Header > Edit Header, or pick the picture from Home > Select > Selection Pane.

Which key deletes a picture on a Mac?

Microsoft’s Mac steps say to click the picture and press Backspace. On Apple keyboards that key is labeled Delete.

Why does Ctrl + click not select more than one picture?

Microsoft says pictures that cannot be multi-selected are probably set to In Line with Text. Delete them one at a time, or select each picture, select Layout Options, and choose an option under With Text Wrapping first.

Will deleting pictures make my Word file smaller?

Usually, because images are stored inside the document. How much smaller depends on the size of the pictures, and Microsoft’s delete article does not give a figure. Save a copy first if you might need the pictures again.

Next Step

Once the unwanted picture is gone, scroll through the nearby pages to check that the text did not shift. For more help with Microsoft’s word processor, see our Word guides.