What is the shortcut for a page break in Word?
Ctrl + Enter — Insert a page break
Ctrl + Enter inserts a manual page break at the cursor in Microsoft Word. It is the same as Insert > Page Break, and it shows as a dotted "Page Break" line when formatting marks are visible.
Related Microsoft Word shortcuts: Insert & Special Characters (first 25 of 32)
| Shortcut | Action | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Shift + Enter | Insert a line break | |
| Ctrl + Enter | Insert a page break | |
| Ctrl + Shift + Enter | Insert a column break | |
| Ctrl + Alt + Minus sign | Insert an em dash (—) | on the numeric keypad |
| Ctrl + Minus sign | Insert an en dash (–) | on the numeric keypad |
| Ctrl + Alt + Minus sign (-) | Insert an optional hyphen | |
| Shift + Alt + Minus sign(-) | Insert a nonbreaking hyphen | |
| Ctrl + Shift + Spacebar | Insert a nonbreaking space | |
| Press | Insert a copyright symbol (©) | |
| Ctrl + Alt + R | Insert a registered trademark symbol (®) | |
| Ctrl + Alt + T | Insert a trademark symbol (™) | |
| Ctrl + Alt + Period (.) | Insert an ellipsis (…) | |
| The character code, then press Alt + X | Insert the Unicode character for the specified Unicode (hexadecimal) character code. For example, to insert the euro currency symbol ( ), type 20AC, and then hold down Alt and press X. Tip: To find out the Unicode character code for a selected character, press Alt+X | |
| Alt + the character code | Insert the ANSI character for the specified ANSI (decimal) character code. For example, to insert the euro currency symbol, hold down Alt and press 0128 on the numeric keypad | on the numeric keypad |
| Ctrl + Grave accent (`), the letter | À, è, ì, ò, ù, À, È, Ì, Ò, Ù | |
| Ctrl + Single quotation mark ('), the letter | Á, é, í, ó, ú, ý Á, É, Í, Ó, Ú, Ý | |
| Ctrl + Shift + Caret (^), the letter | Â, ê, î, ô, û Â, Ê, Î, Ô, Û | |
| Ctrl + Shift + Tilde (~), the letter | Ã, ñ, õ Ã, Ñ, Õ | |
| Ctrl + Shift + Colon (:), the letter | Ä, ë, ï, ö, ü, ÿ, Ä, Ë, Ï, Ö, Ü, Ÿ | |
| Ctrl + Shift + At sign (@), a or A | Å, Å | |
| Ctrl + Shift + Ampersand (&), a or A | Æ, Æ | |
| Ctrl + Shift + Ampersand (&), o or O | Œ, Œ | |
| Ctrl + Comma (, ), c or C | Ç, Ç | |
| Ctrl + Single quotation mark ('), d or D | Ð, Ð | |
| Ctrl + Forward slash (/), o or O | Ø, Ø |
From the Microsoft Word reference (261 entries) · all how-to answers
Page break versus section break
A page break moves the following text to a new page and nothing else. A section break (Layout › Breaks › Next Page) also starts a new section, which is what you need when the next part has different headers, footers, margins or orientation — a landscape table in a portrait report, or page numbering that restarts. Using page breaks where a section break is needed is the usual cause of "I cannot change the header on this page only".
Seeing and removing breaks
Ctrl + Shift + 8 (Ctrl + *) shows formatting marks, and the break appears as a dotted line labelled Page Break; click it and press Delete to remove it. Word for the web shows the same marks from the View menu. A break at the end of a page that seems to add a blank page is usually a paragraph mark after the break — delete that instead.
Alternatives to manual breaks
Paragraph › Line and Page Breaks has "Page break before", which attaches the break to a style — set it on Heading 1 and every chapter starts a new page without a manual break, and reflows correctly when text above it changes. "Keep with next" and "Keep lines together" prevent a heading from stranding at the bottom of a page without forcing a break at all.