How to Delete a Header and Footer in Word

To delete a header in Word, go to Insert > Header and choose Remove Header; for the footer, go to Insert > Footer and choose Remove Footer. If it is still on some pages, repeat the command in each section. You reused last year’s report as a starting point, and its old company name is still sitting at the top of every page. These steps apply to Word for Microsoft 365, 2024 and 2021 on Windows and Mac, plus Word 2019 and 2016 on Windows.

Remove the Header and Footer From the Whole Document

Word has a dedicated Remove command. It is better than selecting the text and pressing Delete, because it clears everything in the header area, including logos, lines and empty paragraphs you can’t easily see.

1. Open the document and select the Insert tab.
2. Select Header. At the bottom of the menu, select Remove Header.
3. Select Footer, then Remove Footer.
4. Scroll through the document, or use File > Print to see the preview, and check the top and bottom of several pages.

If you are already working inside the header (you double-clicked it), the same commands are on the Header & Footer tab: select Header > Remove Header or Footer > Remove Footer, then Close Header and Footer or press Esc.

Microsoft’s remove all headers and footers page adds one catch: if your document has more than one section, you repeat the command in each one. If the header disappears from the first few pages but comes back later, that is almost always the reason, and the “Still on Some Pages” section below walks through it.

Delete the text instead? You can double-click the header, select its contents with Ctrl + A (Command + A on a Mac), and press Delete. That empties the header but leaves the header area in place, so it’s handy when you want to type a new header immediately. When the goal is no header at all, use Remove.

Remove It From the First Page Only

Title pages and letters often need a clean first page while the rest keep the header. Word handles this with a single checkbox.

1. Double-click the header or footer on the first page.
2. On the Header & Footer tab, check Different First Page.
3. The first page’s header and footer now appear empty. If some content is still there, select it and delete it; this only affects page one.
4. Select Close Header and Footer or press Esc.

Different First Page is a toggle. If your document already had it turned on, the first page already uses its own header. In that case, clearing the checkbox makes page one show the same header as the rest, which is the opposite of what you want. Look at the checkbox before you click it.

Remove It From One Page or One Part of the Document

For any page other than the first, you need a section break. Word applies one header to a whole section, so the page that should be different has to start its own section. Microsoft covers this in change or delete a header or footer on a single page.

1. Click at the very start of the page that should have no header. If there is an ordinary page break just before it, delete that break first.
2. Select Layout > Breaks > Next Page. This starts a new section on that page.
3. Double-click the header on that page.
4. On the Header & Footer tab, select Link to Previous so it is no longer highlighted. This disconnects this section’s header from the one before it.
5. Select Header > Remove Header. The earlier pages keep theirs.
6. If the pages after this one should get the header back, put another Next Page break at the start of the next page, turn off Link to Previous in that new section, and add the header there.
7. Repeat steps 3 to 5 in the footer if you want the footer gone too. Headers and footers are unlinked separately.

Skipping step 4 is the most common mistake. While Link to Previous is on, removing the header in one section removes it from the linked sections as well. If the button is dimmed, Microsoft’s Link to Previous help page explains that there is no section break between the two parts yet. The same section breaks are what let you make only one page landscape in Word, so the technique is worth learning once.

The Header Is Still on Some Pages

When the header won’t go away everywhere, the document has more than one header behind the scenes. Turn on hidden formatting marks with Home > Show/Hide (the paragraph symbol) so you can see “Section Break” lines, then check these three settings.

• Several sections. Each section can carry its own header. Click into each section, double-click its header and run Remove Header. The header area shows a label such as “Header Section 2” so you can tell where you are.
• Different Odd & Even Pages. If this box is checked on the Header & Footer tab, odd and even pages have separate headers. Remove the header on an odd page and on an even page, or clear the checkbox first so there is only one to remove.
• Different First Page. The first page of each section can have its own header too. Check the first page of each section separately.

A worked example: Dana inherits a 40-page proposal that still says “Bluefield Design, 2025” at the top. Remove Header clears pages 1 to 12, but the text returns on page 13. Show/Hide reveals a section break at the end of page 12, and the second section has Different Odd & Even Pages turned on. She removes the header on page 13 and again on page 14, and the old name is gone from the rest of the document.

Delete Only Part of a Header or Footer

Sometimes you want to keep the header but lose one item from it.

• Old text or a logo: double-click the header, select just that text or click the picture, and press Delete. Then type the new text in the same spot.
• Page numbers: page numbers live in the header or footer. Select Insert > Page Number > Remove Page Numbers to remove them, or double-click the footer and delete the number on its own if the footer holds other text you want to keep. There’s more on this in how to add and remove page numbers in Word.
• A watermark: watermarks are stored in the header too, but they have their own command. Follow how to remove a watermark in Word rather than deleting the header.

Remove Every Header and Footer at Once With Document Inspector

In a long document with many sections, Word for Windows can clear every header, footer and watermark in one pass with Document Inspector. Use it only when you want all three gone.

1. Save a copy of the document first (File > Save As with a new name). Microsoft warns that you can’t always restore data that Document Inspector removes.
2. In the copy, select File > Info > Check for Issues > Inspect Document.
3. Make sure Headers, Footers, and Watermarks is checked. Clear any categories you don’t want removed, such as comments, then select Inspect.
4. Next to Headers, Footers, and Watermarks, select Remove All, then Close.

Microsoft explains each category on its Document Inspector page. The same tool can also remove personal information from Word documents, which is worth doing on a reused file like last year’s report.

Get Rid of Leftover Space or Lines

After removing the header, the page may still start some distance down. That gap is the page’s top margin, not a hidden header. To change it, select Layout > Margins and pick a narrower preset, or choose Custom Margins and lower the Top or Bottom value. In the Page Setup dialog, the Layout tab also has header and footer distance boxes (“From edge”), which matter only when a header is present.

A line that remains across the top is usually a paragraph border that was part of the old header style. Double-click the header area, click on the line’s paragraph, and select Home > Borders > No Border. If it’s a drawn shape, click it and press Delete.

Word for the Web, Mac and Protected Files

• Word for Mac: the steps match Windows. Use Insert > Header > Remove Header and Insert > Footer > Remove Footer, section by section.
• Word for the web: Microsoft’s remove-all page shows the same Insert > Header or Footer > Remove path for the web. Its browser-differences page also notes that some header and footer editing isn’t available in the browser. If you can’t find the command, or the document has several sections, use the Open in Desktop option to switch to the Word app and do it there.
• Protected or shared documents: if the commands are grayed out, the document may be restricted for editing or opened read-only. Check the yellow message bar at the top, or ask the person who shared it for an editable copy.
• The header comes back in every new document: it’s probably built into the template the document starts from. Open and edit the template itself, not a document made from it.

Questions About Removing Headers and Footers

Can I undo Remove Header?

Yes, press Ctrl + Z (Command + Z on a Mac) right after. After you save and close, undo history is gone, so keep a copy of the original if the header might be needed later.

Why did deleting the header on one page remove it everywhere?

Because the page wasn’t in its own section, or Link to Previous was still on. Undo, insert a Next Page section break, turn off Link to Previous in the new section, and remove the header there.

Will removing the header change my page count?

Usually not much. A large header can push body text down, so removing it may let text move up and reduce the page count by a page or two. Check tables and images that sat near page breaks.

How do I add a new header after removing the old one?

Select Insert > Header, pick a built-in style or Edit Header, and type. In a document with several sections, add it in the first section and leave Link to Previous on in the others so it carries through.

Before You Send the File

Open the print preview and page through the whole document once, paying attention to the first page, the page after each section break, and both an odd and an even page. If all of those are clean, every header and footer is gone.