How to Remove a Watermark in Word

To remove a watermark in Word, select the Design tab, select Watermark, and choose Remove Watermark. If the watermark is still there, it may have been added as a picture or text box in the header. Double-click the top of the page to open the header, select the watermark, and press Delete.

These steps apply to Word for Microsoft 365, Word 2024, 2021, 2019, and 2016 on Windows and Mac, which are the versions Microsoft lists for its watermark instructions. Word for the web can show a watermark but can’t remove one. Only remove watermarks from documents you own or have permission to edit.

Before You Start

• Work on a copy if the file matters. Select File > Save As and save a copy with a new name. Some of the methods below also remove header and footer content, and a copy gives you a clean way back.
• Use Print Layout view. Watermarks show only in Print Layout. If you don’t see the watermark on screen but it appears when you print, select View > Print Layout.
• Know where Word keeps watermarks. A watermark made with the Watermark button is stored in the header, even though it shows in the middle of the page. That’s why most stubborn watermarks are removed from the header.

Remove a Standard Watermark (Windows)

1. Open the document.
2. Select the Design tab.
3. In the Page Background group, select Watermark. The watermark gallery opens.
4. Select Remove Watermark. The watermark disappears from every page that uses it.

You can also select Design > Watermark > Custom Watermark, choose No watermark, and select OK. In Word 2010 and 2007, the Watermark button is on the Page Layout tab instead.

If the mark shows only on paper and not in the file, it may come from the printer driver; here is how to add or remove a watermark on the HP Color LaserJet CP1215.

If you make a mistake while working in the document, press Ctrl + Z right away to undo the last change.

Remove a Watermark on a Mac

1. Select Design > Watermark.
2. In the Insert Watermark box, select No watermark.

3. Select OK. The watermark disappears from the pages that used it.

If your version shows a gallery instead of the Insert Watermark box, select Remove Watermark at the bottom of it. Both versions appear in Microsoft’s Remove a watermark guide. To undo on a Mac, press Command + Z.

Remove a Watermark That Won’t Go Away

Word stores watermarks in the header, so if Remove Watermark doesn’t work, delete it from there:

1. Double-click near the top of a page to open the header. The header area opens and the watermark becomes selectable.
2. Point to the watermark until the pointer becomes a four-way arrow, then click to select it. A box with sizing handles appears around it.

3. Press Delete.
4. Select Close Header and Footer, or double-click the body of the page.

Repeat as needed to remove all watermarks. Some watermarks are anchored in the footer, so try double-clicking the bottom of the page too. If the header also holds a logo or page number, click carefully so you select only the faint watermark and not the other items.

Documents with several sections

Each section can have its own header and its own watermark. Scroll to each section, open its header, and delete the watermark there. When a header shows Same as Previous on its tab, it shares its contents with the section before it, so deleting the watermark in one place also removes it from the linked sections. Word can’t remove watermarks from every section in one step.

Different first page or odd and even pages

If the document uses Different First Page or Different Odd & Even Pages, Word keeps separate headers for those pages. Delete the watermark on the first page, on an odd page, and on an even page to clear all of them.

Watermarks added as a picture, shape, or text box

If someone placed a faint image or text box behind the text instead of using the watermark tool, Remove Watermark won’t see it. Use the Selection Pane:

1. On the Home tab, select Select > Selection Pane. A list of objects appears on the right.
2. Click each Picture, Shape, or Text Box in the list until the watermark is highlighted.

3. Press Delete.

You can also use Home > Select > Select Objects, which makes objects behind the text easier to click.

A colored or textured background

A tinted page can look like a watermark. Select Design > Page Color and choose No Color to clear it.

Remove All Watermarks With Document Inspector (Windows)

Word’s Document Inspector can clear every watermark at once, including ones in many sections. The catch is that it also removes everything else in the headers and footers, such as page numbers, logos, and running titles. You might not be able to undo what it removes, so run it on a copy.

1. Save a copy of the document with File > Save As.
2. Select File > Info > Check for Issues > Inspect Document.
3. Leave Headers, Footers, and Watermarks checked and select Inspect.
4. Next to Headers, Footers, and Watermarks, select Remove All, then select Close.

For more on the tool, read Microsoft’s Remove hidden data and personal information by inspecting documents article. The article on removing personal information from a Word document walks through the other inspector categories. If you need to keep the header, use the header steps above instead.

Check for Protection or Tracked Changes

• Restricted editing: select Review > Restrict Editing. If protection is on, select Stop Protection at the bottom of the pane. It may ask for a password from the document’s owner.
• Tracked changes: on the Review tab, turn off Track Changes, then accept or reject existing changes before you delete the watermark.
• PDFs opened in Word: a watermark in the original PDF may have been converted into page content, such as a picture, rather than a Word watermark. Use the Selection Pane steps to find and delete it.

Remove a Watermark From Only One Page

Watermarks apply to a whole section, so Remove Watermark always clears every page in it. To clear just one page, give that page its own section first.

If it’s the first page, you don’t need section breaks. Double-click the header on page 1, select Different First Page on the Header & Footer tab, then delete the watermark from the first-page header. The article on repeating something at the top of every page shows where the Different First Page option sits.

For a page in the middle of the document:

1. On the Home tab, select Show/Hide (the ¶ button) so you can see breaks.
2. Click at the end of the page before the one you want to change, then select Layout > Breaks > Next Page. A new section starts on the next page.
3. Click at the end of the page you want to change and insert another Next Page break, so that page sits alone in its section.
4. Double-click the header on that page and turn off Link to Previous on the Header & Footer tab.

5. Go to the header of the page after it and turn off Link to Previous there too.
6. Return to the page’s header, select the watermark, and press Delete. Close the header.

Scroll through the document to confirm the watermark is gone only from that page. A Next Page break can add a blank page if the page was already ending with a manual page break, so delete the extra break if that happens. The article on deleting an empty page in Word covers section breaks that leave blank pages, and making only one page landscape uses the same section break idea. Microsoft’s Insert a section break page explains the break types.

How to Confirm the Watermark Is Gone

Select File > Print and page through the preview, since the preview shows the document the way it will print. Check the first page, a page in each section, and both an odd and an even page if the document uses different headers. Then save the file.

Frequently Asked Questions