How to Remove Overset Text in Adobe InDesign

Updated on:

April 6, 2026

By:

Madhav Bhandari

Use this interactive demo to learn how to remove overset text in Adobe InDesign.

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Here’s a quick and simple guide on how to remove overset text using the Story Editor in Adobe InDesign.

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To remove overset text in Adobe InDesign, select ‘Edit in Story Editor’ from the Edit menu.
A window will open displaying all the paragraph text, including any overset text. Highlight the overset text that aligns beside the vertical red line.
Once highlighted, press 'Delete' to remove it from the paragraph text.‍
The overset text has now been removed, as indicated in the Preflight panel.

📌 Why this matters

Overset text breaks your document's layout and prevents proper printing or PDF export, but simply enlarging text frames isn't always the solution. When you're working with fixed layouts like brochures or magazines, expanding frames disrupts your carefully planned design grid and throws off spacing between elements.

By removing excess content instead, you maintain your original design integrity while ensuring clean output. This approach also forces you to tighten your copy, often resulting in stronger, more focused messaging that serves your design better than cramming everything in.

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