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Adobe FrameMaker: Deleting Empty Pages

by Barb Binder, Adobe Certified Instructor on FrameMaker
Updated: Aug 31, 2020

For those of you transitioning to FrameMaker from Microsoft Word, the empty pages left at the end of a document can be bothersome.

The first rule to learn is that the single fastest way to delete empty pages is to save your document. When you save, empty pages are deleted. Of course, this assumes a few things.

To control this for a single file, choose Format > Page Layout > Pagination. Ensure “Before Saving & Printing” is set to Delete Empty Pages. (If you are looking to handle this at the book level, it is addressed at the very bottom of this post.)

Adobe FrameMaker: Delete empty pages before saving & printing

If you confirm the settings shown above, but the empty pages refuse to go away when you save or print, read on…

If the page in question is using a custom master page, choose Format > Page Layout > Master Page Usage and reassign the default Right/Left masters.
Adobe FrameMaker: Reassign the default left/right masters

Save your work and the empty page should be gone.

If not, read on…

Another reason that empty pages stick around is if the master pages are using overrides. View the master pages via View > Master Pages and switch back the Body Pages (View > Body Pages). Select Remove Overrides.

Adobe FrameMaker: Remove Page Overrides

Save your work and the empty page should be gone. But… if not, read on…

Yet another reason a page won’t go away is if the page contains the start of a new flow (i.e., Flow B) or a disconnected page. Choose Format > Document > Delete Pages (Prior to FrameMaker 2017, this command was Special > Delete Pages) and remove the page manually.

Adobe FrameMaker: Manually delete the page

If the page disappears, but returns after you update your book, it’s likely the book pagination is set to add blank pages to force a new chapter to begin on a specific page side. In the book window, you can choose Format > Page Layout > Pagination and you’ll find the same options you saw for single documents. Book commands override the document commands, so I just ignore document pagination and always set it at the book level.

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5 thoughts on “Adobe FrameMaker: Deleting Empty Pages

    1. Hi Sonia:

      The Special menu was renamed the Insert menu in FrameMaker 2017. At the same time, the Delete Pages command was moved to Format > Document > Delete Pages.

      ~Barb

  1. So handy, thanks! Yours is the only page where I could find out about the Delete Pages button – the product help doesn’t seem to mention it!