Fix Blank Pages in Google Docs to PDF

The first step in fixing blank pages is turning on paragraph marks. Press Ctrl+Shift+8 (Cmd+Shift+8 on Mac) in Google Docs to show all hidden characters including paragraph marks, page breaks, and section breaks. These invisible elements are almost always the cause of unexpected blank pages in the PDF.

The most common source of a blank page at the end of a PDF is one or more empty paragraphs after the last line of content. Each empty paragraph occupies vertical space. If enough empty paragraphs accumulate, they push the last content to the end of a page and create an empty page after it. With paragraph marks visible, scroll to the end and delete everything after the last line of real content.

A manual page break (Insert > Break > Page break) forces everything after it to a new page. If a page break was inserted at the end of a section where a new page was already starting naturally, it creates a blank page. Show hidden characters and look for dotted lines labeled 'Page break' between content sections. Delete any that are creating unwanted blank pages.

A table that is too tall for the remaining space on a page causes the table to push to the next page. If the space before the table is less than one line but more than nothing, the result is a nearly blank page with just a small amount of space at the top. Adjust the table size or move it so it fits on the current page.

Documents with both portrait and landscape pages use section breaks to change orientation. If a section break for a landscape page is placed incorrectly, it can create an extra blank page between the portrait and landscape sections. Careful placement of section breaks eliminates this issue.