How do I delete phantom pages/sections in my Word 2003 document?

[cyndiwise notsowise]

I have a Word 2003 document that is set up with tables to print hanging file
folder labels on the Avery Worksaver Tab Inserts specialty cardstock. There
are several pages of labels, each with ten rows of two columns. The problem
is that there are now 7 "phantom" pages that only show up in the Print Layout
view, before the first row of labels. These pages are messing up how the
labels print and yet I can't find a way to delete the phantom pages.

What I did before these pages showed up was to delete all the section breaks
so I could sort the labels alphabetically. Once I sorted the labels (rows) I
then went in to add back the section breaks. However, the first row of labels
now is showing up as Page 1 Section 8 in the first column, then as Page 2
Section 8 in the second column of the same row. When I go to Print Preview,
there are 10 pages of blank documents and then page 11 starts with the text
from the SECOND row - the first row of labels is nowhere to be found. I tried
adjusting the page numbering format but it does not remove the phantom blank
pages, nor does it fix the printing problems.

The original document was created in Word XP and the labels printed just
fine. Rather than create a new document, I wanted to keep the formatting so I
deleted all the text and typed in new labels, but I had already upgraded to
Word 2003. Could that be the problem?

Thanks for any help/advise you can give. I cannot find anything that helps
online. There are about 16 pages of labels that I want to print and I really
hate to start over. I've tried creating a new document and copying the text
into the new document, but the phantom pages come along with the text.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

See http://sbarnhill.mvps.org/WordFAQs/BlankPage.htm. What happens if you
delete all the section breaks? They should not really be necessary.

 

[Idaho Word Man]

Without seeing your document, it's hard to tell, but it almost sounds as if
you might have your track changes turned on and deleted text set up to show
as something other than hidden. When you delete page breaks or section
breaks with change tracking on, they aren't really "deleted" at all --
they're still there and they'll show up and print.

Check the bottom of the screen to see whether TRK is turned on. If it is,
try accepting all changes in the document and see if that gets rid of the
pages. If you don't want to accept changes, go to Tools - Options - Track
Changes and make sure that Deletions is set to Hidden. Hiding the deleted
section breaks is almost as good as making them go away.