How to Delete Word Documents on a Mac

Free up hard drive space on your Mac by deleting unneeded Microsoft Word files

Last Updated: May 25, 2022

Sometimes, it can be difficult to remove a document from your system. Deleting a Word document is no different from deleting other kinds of documents or files, but if you're having trouble, the methods below should do the trick.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Via Finder

1
Open the document location in finder.
2
Select the document. It should be highlighted in blue.

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3
Right click (Ctrl and click) on the selected document.
4
Select Move to Trash.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Via Word

1
Open Microsoft Word. This method will only work if the document has been edited on the activate computer before.
2
In the startup window that is shown on launch, select Recent or Recent Documents (depending on which version of Word you are using).
3
Scroll through the list until the desired document is found.
4
Select the document.
5
Select Show in Finder.
6
Right-click (Ctrl and click) on the highlighted document.
7
Select Move to Trash.

Community Q&A

Question

How do I delete multiple documents at the same time?

Community Answer

Once you've navigated to the folder with the documents you want to delete, you can click and drag your mouse or use the Shift key to select multiple documents at once. Once the documents are selected, click and drag them to the trash can.
Question

How do you remove the empty boxes that remain after you delete a document in Word for Mac 2011?

Community Answer

Close the program without saving your work. Word does it automatically.

Warnings

Even when the trash has been emptied, the document can be recovered by police experts and hackers. If it contains sensitive information, empty the document by deleting all contents before deleting it.

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If the document will still take up space on your computer until you empty the trash. (Empty the trash by selecting the trash can at the far right of the dock at the bottom of the screen and right-clicking/(Ctrl and clicking in the window and choosing "Empty Trash".

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