Word put text into columns

Word 2013

You can format your document in a newspaper-style column layout by adding columns. On the Page Layout tab, click Columns, then click the layout you want.

  1. To apply columns to only part of your document, with your cursor, select the text that you want to format.

  2. On the Page Layout tab, click Columns, then click More Columns.

  3. Click Selected text from the Apply to box.

Word 2016

You can format your document in a newspaper-style column layout by adding columns. On the Layout tab, click Columns, then click the layout you want.

  1. To apply columns to only part of your document, with your cursor, select the text that you want to format.

  2. On the Layout tab, click Columns, then click More Columns.

  3. Click Selected text from the Apply to box.

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A user-friendly guide to create two separate text columns on Microsoft Word


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  • Using a Computer
  • |

  • Using the Mobile App
  • |

  • Q&A
  • |

  • Tips

Do you want to split text into multiple columns in Microsoft Word? With the «Columns» feature, you can easily do so in a few simple steps. With the desktop version of Word, you’ll be able to create columns with selected text. On mobile, you’ll need to change the whole document layout. This wikiHow will show you how to make two or more columns in your Microsoft Word document using your Windows, Mac, iPhone, or Android device.

Things You Should Know

  • On desktop, highlight the text you want to split. Click «Layout» → «Columns» → «Two.»
  • On mobile, tap ••• → «Home» → «Layout» → «Columns» → «Two».
  • You can only split selected text on desktop. Creating columns on mobile will change the entire document layout.
  1. Image titled Make Two Columns in Word Step 1

    1

    Open the Microsoft Word document you want to edit. Find the Word document you want to edit on your computer, and double-click on its icon to open it.[1]

    • If you don’t have Microsoft Word on your Windows or Mac computer, you can download it or use the free web version at https://www.office.com.
    • You can also add images to your document if you’re planning to create a «news column» type document.
  2. Image titled Make Two Columns in Word Step 2

    2

    Select all the text you want to split into columns. Click the beginning of the text you want to edit, and drag your mouse until the end of it. Selected parts will be highlighted.

    • If you want to select the whole document, you can use a keyboard shortcut.
      • On Mac, press Command + A.
      • On Windows, press CTRL + A.

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  3. Image titled Make Two Columns in Word Step 3

    3

    Click the Layout tab at the top. This button is located above the toolbar at the top of your document.

    • Depending on your version of Word, this button may also be labeled Page Layout.
  4. Image titled Make Two Columns in Word Step 4

    4

    Click the Columns button on the Layout toolbar. This looks like a rectangle with horizontal lines divided in two sets.

    • A drop-down menu will open.
  5. Image titled Make Two Columns in Word Step 5

    5

    Select Two on the drop-down menu. This will split the selected text into two columns.

    • Alternatively, you can select another option here, and create even more columns. You can select: One (default), Two, Three, Left, Right, or More Columns.
  6. Image titled Make Two Columns in Word Step 6

    6

    Change the size of your columns (optional). You can click and drag the edges of the ruler at the top of your document to change the size of your columns.

    • If you don’t see the ruler, click the View tab, then click the box next to Ruler in the Show section.
    • Make sure you still have your column text selected when you adjust the size.
    • This is an optional adjustment. If you prefer not to change the column sizes, your columns will be equal in size by default.
    • Be sure to save your Word document when you’re finished.
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  1. Image titled Make Two Columns in Word Step 7

    1

    Open a document in the Microsoft Word app. This looks like a blue notebook next to a W. Microsoft Word is available for iOS in the App Store and for Android in the Google Play Store.

    • Tap Blank document to open a new document or tap a file to open an existing document.
    • You can’t put specific text into two columns on the mobile app. This method will adjust the entire document’s layout without needing to select text.
  2. Image titled Make Two Columns in Word Step 8

    2

    Tap ••• . This can be found above the keyboard, to the right.

    • If you don’t see your keyboard, tap the document to bring it up.
    • A new menu will open.
  3. Image titled Make Two Columns in Word Step 9

    3

    Tap Home. This will be to the left of the formatting window.

    • A drop-down menu will open.
  4. Image titled Make Two Columns in Word Step 10

    4

    Tap Layout. You’ll see a list of options you can make to your page layout.

  5. Image titled Make Two Columns in Word Step 11

    5

    Tap Columns. This will be next to the icon of horizontal lines divided in two sets.

  6. Image titled Make Two Columns in Word Step 12

    6

    Tap Two. This will split the selected text into two columns.

    • Alternatively, you can select another option here, and split your text into more columns. You can select: One (default), Two, Three, Left, or Right.
    • Your page layout will now have two columns. When you enter text, it will fill the left column first, then continue onto the right column.
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Add New Question

  • Question

    My layout key does not have the option for columns. How do I add that?

    Community Answer

    You are probably using the web version. It doesn’t have a lot of special options. The best solution is just to get the Word app and try again.

  • Question

    How to create a two columns with separate texts?

    Community Answer

    This is very simple. When typing in each column, type different things. If it tries to connect them, just start a new paragraph.

  • Question

    I want to change back to a full document after the columns. Then change back to columns and so forth (Recipe title and serving size, then columns for actual recipe; then another recipe on same page.)

    Community Answer

    At the bottom of the advanced column settings, there is a dropdown box labeled «Apply to:». Set the column number and click this to select the section you want to update. The easiest option is to highlight a section and select the «selected text» option.

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Typically, Word documents like books, reports, and letters have paragraphs that occupy the whole page width. In articles, newsletters, flyers, and brochures, all or only parts of the text may be arranged in two or more columns:

Columns in Word 365

You don’t need to create tables to structure text into columns. Tables are useful for displaying translated versions of the legal document side-by-side, but table cells break the text flow and are not recommended for multi-column layouts. It is more convenient to use columns for text formatting in most other cases. Word also allows you to adjust your columns by adding column breaks.

Format text in columns

To format a text into columns, do the following:

   1.   Do one of the following:

  • To use the same number of columns for an entire document, click anywhere in the document (empty or with content).

    If you choose to format text in columns, Word fills the first column with text on the page and then moves to the beginning of the next column. When all columns on one page are filled, the text moves to the next page.

  • To format only a part of the document, select the paragraphs that you want to wrap in columns.

    If you select a part of the text and wrap it in columns, Word inserts section breaks at the beginning and end of the selected text to delineate the area where the column layout is applied:

    Columns in section Word 365

    See more about breaks and how to display them.

To manually specify where the text in each column should end, you can use a column break.

   2.   On the Layout tab, in the Page Setup group, click the Columns button:

Columns button in Word 365

   3.   In the Columns dropdown list, select one of the options:

More Columns in Word 365

  • One (used by default),
  • Two, Three to create two or three columns of equal width,
  • Left, Right to create two columns of unequal width,
  • More Columns… to specify more options in the Columns dialog box:

    Columns dialog box in Word 365

    • In the Presets section, you can choose the same options as in the Columns dropdown list – One, Two, Three, Left, or Right.
    • If you need more columns, type or select the number of columns you need in the Number of columns field. The maximum number of columns may vary depending on the font, font size, margins, etc. E.g., 13.
    • The Line between checkbox inserts a vertical line between columns. This line clearly defines column borders, especially if you want to fit as much content on the page as possible (very handy for cheat sheets).
      See more options below.

Format columns

   I.   It is recommended to justify the paragraphs in columns to give the page a clean and organized appearance. To justify the column text, select it and do one of the following:

  • On the Home tab, in the Paragraph group, click the Justify button:

    Justify button in Word 365

  • Press Ctrl+J.

   II.   To change the width of columns or the space between them, do the following:

   1.   Click anywhere in the columnar text.

   2.   Do one of the following:

  • On the Layout tab, in the Page Layout group, click the Columns button, then choose More Columns…

    In the Columns dialog box, in the Width and spacing section:

    Width and spacing in Columns dialog box Word 365

    In the Width box for any columns, enter or select a new width.

    The Width measurements for the other columns change to match, and the width of all the columns changes.

    See how the columns will be displayed in the Preview section.

  • On the horizontal ruler, drag the margins to change the width of the columns:

    Horizontal ruler for columns in Word 365

   III.   To reduce white space on text lines, you can set up Word to hyphenate the text and break long words into syllables. See how to hyphenate automatically and manually for more details.

Remove columns

To remove column layout for the selected text or entire document, do the following:

   1.   Click anywhere in the columnar text.

   2.   On the Layout tab, in the Page Layout group, click the Columns button, then choose One.

Insert a column break

In the Word document, you can manually break columns. When you break a column, the text after the break moves to the top of the next column:

Column break in Word 365

You can display column breaks as regular nonprintable symbols. Word displays them as Column break in Word 365.

To insert a column break, position the cursor at the beginning of the line you want to start in the new column, and then do any of the following:

  • On the Layout tab, in the Page Setup group, click the Breaks button, and then click Column to insert a column break:

    Column in Page Breaks Word 365

  • Press Ctrl+Shift+Enter.

The column break is inserted, and the cursor moves to the beginning of the next column.

Remove a column break

To remove a column break, click at the left end of the break or select the break and press the Delete key.

Add columns to a Word document

  1. To apply columns to only part of your document, with your cursor, select the text that you want to format.
  2. On the Page Layout tab, click Columns, then click More Columns.
  3. Click Selected text from the Apply to box.

Contents

  • 1 How do I split text into columns in Word?
  • 2 How do I keep text in one column in Word?
  • 3 How do I split Text into two Columns?
  • 4 How do I split a Text box into two Columns?
  • 5 How do I put text side by side in Word?
  • 6 How do I align text in two Columns in Word?
  • 7 How do you split a Word document into sections?
  • 8 Which option is used to split the text into Columns?
  • 9 What is the shortcut for text to column?
  • 10 Can you put columns in a text box in Word?
  • 11 How do I make columns in columns in Word?
  • 12 Can you split a text box in Word?
  • 13 How do I make columns and rows in Word?
  • 14 How do you indent for APA in Word?
  • 15 How do I split a Word document into 4 columns?
  • 16 How do I split a Word document into 6 sections?
  • 17 How do you force text in a column to the top of the next column?
  • 18 What is the use of text to column function?
  • 19 How do you text to columns in an equation?

How do I split text into columns in Word?

How to Split Text to Columns

  1. Open the document.
  2. Select the Page Layout tab.
  3. In Page Setup group click the Columns command.
  4. It displays a list of options to split text into columns.
  5. Select the desired option.

How do I keep text in one column in Word?

More videos on YouTube

  1. Select the text you want to format. Selecting text to format.
  2. Select the Page Layout tab, then click the Columns command. A drop-down menu will appear.
  3. Select the number of columns you want to create. Formatting text into columns.
  4. The text will format into columns. The formatted text.

How do I split Text into two Columns?

Try it!

  1. Select the cell or column that contains the text you want to split.
  2. Select Data > Text to Columns.
  3. In the Convert Text to Columns Wizard, select Delimited > Next.
  4. Select the Delimiters for your data.
  5. Select Next.
  6. Select the Destination in your worksheet which is where you want the split data to appear.

How do I split a Text box into two Columns?

Right-click the text box, placeholder, or shape border, and click Format Shape . Click Columns , enter the number of columns in the Number box, and the space between each column (in inches) in the Spacing box. If the Columns button is grayed out, it’s likely because you are working on a table.

How do I put text side by side in Word?

How to Make Two-Column Text in Word 2016

  1. Start up a new document. Or if you have an existing document, move the toothpick cursor to the document’s tippy-top by pressing Ctrl+Home.
  2. Click the Layout tab.
  3. Click the Columns button and choose Two. You’re done.

How do I align text in two Columns in Word?

Aligning Text in Two Columns in the Same Vertical Position
Position the insertion point in the paragraph in column two. On the Home tab, click Paragraph, and then click Align. Select the Align with option and then select the paragraph tag pertaining to the column one paragraph. Click OK.

How do you split a Word document into sections?

Divide a Document into Sections

  1. Place the insertion point where you want the section break.
  2. Choose the Page Layout tab.
  3. Click the down-arrow next to the Breaks button. A menu appears.
  4. Click the type of section break you want. Word inserts the section break.

Which option is used to split the text into Columns?

On the Data tab, click the Text to Columns option. In the Convert Text to Columns Wizard, to split the text in the cells based on a comma, space, or another character, select the Delimited option.

What is the shortcut for text to column?

ALT + A + E
In order to access Text to Columns in Excel, go to Data, then Data Tools and Text to Columns. To open Text to Columns, the keyboard shortcut is – ALT + A + E.

Can you put columns in a text box in Word?

When you plan the layout of your document, you can utilize columns by using the Columns tool on the Page Layout (Layout if you are using Word 2016 or a later version) tab of the ribbon. You can also use text boxes to place “special” information into your document.

More videos on YouTube

  1. Select the text you want to format.
  2. Click the Page Layout tab.
  3. Click the Columns command. A drop-down menu will appear. Adding columns.
  4. Select the number of columns you want to insert. The text will then format into columns.

Can you split a text box in Word?

Objects like textboxes can’t be split over multiple pages in Word. You might want to consider using a single cell table instead. Table cells can split over multiple pages and you can set the properties so that text is wrapped around them.

How do I make columns and rows in Word?

Add a row or column

  1. Click where you want in your table to add a row or column and then click the Layout tab (this is the tab next to the Table Design tab on the ribbon).
  2. To add rows, click Insert Above or Insert Below and to add columns, click Insert Left or Insert Right.

How do you indent for APA in Word?

It’s easier done than said (works for Word on PC or MAC):

  1. Place your cursor at the beginning of your citation, and highlight it.
  2. Right click your mouse.
  3. Select Paragraph from the resulting pop up menu.
  4. Under Indentation, use the Special pull-down menu to select hanging.
  5. Use the By menu to select 0.5″

How do I split a Word document into 4 columns?

Highlight the text you wish to split into columns. Select the “Page Layout” tab. Choose “Columns” then select the type of columns you wish to apply. For this to fully work, you must have enough text typed to fill the first column before the text will start filling into the second column.

How do I split a Word document into 6 sections?

Follow these general steps:

  1. Open a new document and set the paper orientation and margins the way you want.
  2. Insert a three-column, single-row table in your document.
  3. Remove the borders around the table, if desired.
  4. Format the second (center) column to be rather narrow.
  5. Adjust the width of the other columns as desired.

How do you force text in a column to the top of the next column?

How do you force text in a column to the top of the next column? Insert a column break. In what type of document might a mirror margin be used?

What is the use of text to column function?

Excel’s Text to Columns feature splits text in a cell into multiple columns. This simple task can save a user the heartache of manually separating the text in a cell into several columns. We’ll start with a simple example of splitting two samples of data into separate columns.

How do you text to columns in an equation?

Text to Columns Command to Split Text

  1. Select the entire sample data range (B2:B12).
  2. Click on the Data tab in the Excel ribbon.
  3. Click on the Text to Columns icon in the Data Tools group of the Excel ribbon and a wizard will appear to help you set up how the text will be split.
  4. Select Delimited on the option buttons.

I’ll admit it — I’m not a big fan of adding columns in Microsoft Word.  Not that there’s anything wrong with columns, per se.  Columns work fine (until they don’t).  But in a legal office environment, I usually format blocks of information with tables because they’re a bit easier to control.

That said, I have seen lots of legal professionals insert multiple columns in Microsoft Word to format things like service lists in Certificates of Service.  Hey, to each her [his] own.

So if you want to format text with columns in Microsoft Word documents, here’s what you need to know:

Inserting columns: the basic primer

Everything starts from the Layout tab (known as Page Layout in versions 2007-2010) on the Ribbon:

Click on More Columns, and you’re taken to a dialog box that allows you to set up your columns exactly the way you want them.

The default is one column — just a regular document.  You can use one of the presets (the two-column layout is useful for the service list application I mentioned above).  Or you can customize it within an inch of its life. Width?  Space between columns 1 and 2, or 2 and 3, or …?  How about a line between them (like a newsletter would have)?  You decide!

(If you don’t want your columns to all be the same width, be sure to uncheck the “Equal column width” checkbox at the bottom of the dialog box.  Then, you’ll be able to customize the width of each column separately.)

Navigating between columns

Once you’ve set up your columns, you come to the tricky part. This is part of the reason I usually opt for tables rather than columns.  If you use tables, moving between the cells is easy — just use the Tab key.  To insert a column, however, you need to know a few tricks.

Say you’re typing in the first column of your document and you want to end that column there and start typing in the second column.  To do that, you have to insert a column break.  You can insert a column break in one of two ways:

  • Press CTRL-SHIFT-ENTER  simultaneously; or
  • Go to the Layout tab, click Breaks, and choose Column

Personally, I’d go with Option 1 (assuming I remember the key combination in the heat of the moment).

Once you’ve inserted a column break, your cursor is in the next column, ready for you to type.  When you insert a column break in your last column (the one farthest to the right), the cursor will go to the first column on the next page.

Viewing column boundaries

To me, it’s tough to work with columns (or tables, for that matter) if I can’t really see them.  To turn on the column boundaries so you can see your columns laid out on the page, go to the File tab (or click the Office button in version 2007) and click Options, then go to Advanced and check the box next to Show text boundaries:

When columns are only part of your document

But what if only part of your document consists of multiple columns?

If you go back to the Columns dialog box (via Layout > Columns > More Columns), you’ll notice a drop-down at the bottom of the box:

If you choose This Point Forward, that will allow you to insert columns at the point your cursor is sitting in.  Once you’ve inserted your columnar data, then go back to the Format Columns dialog box and choose the One Column format (being careful to once again choose This Point Forward in that bottom drop-down), and your document will return to the single-column format without disturbing the multi-column insertion you’ve just worked so hard on.

But what if you want to insert a two- or three- (or more-) column block of text into the middle of a one-column, normal document?

You may want to use a slightly different procedure, depending on whether you’re creating a brand-new document or you’re inserting a multi-column layout into the middle of an existing single-column document. You’re using the same dialog box, but if you’re editing an existing document and placing a multi-column layout in the middle, you’ll need to take a couple of extra precautions to ensure you don’t inadvertently create a formatting nightmare.

Inserting multi-columns into a new document

Let’s say you’re typing along in a brand-new document and decide that the next bit of text needs to be in two (or more) columns. There’s no text after the point where your cursor is right now, so you can switch back to single-column format once you get done inserting the multi-column section.

If you go back to the Columns dialog box (via Layout > Columns > More Columns), you’ll notice a drop-down at the bottom of the box:

If you choose This Point Forward, that will allow you to insert columns at the point your cursor is sitting in.  Once you’ve inserted your columnar data, then go back to the Format Columns dialog box and choose the One Column format (being careful to once again choose This Point Forward in that bottom drop-down), and your document will return to the single-column format without disturbing the multi-column insertion you’ve just worked so hard on.

Inserting columns into the middle of an existing document

If you’re editing an existing document and you want to insert a multi-column layout somewhere in the middle of text you’ve already got typed, the “this point forward” method may result in a temporary and fixable but still infuriating mess.

Here’s how to avoid it: Insert section breaks before and after the point at which you want to insert your columns:

… then in Apply to:, choose This section instead:

Here’s a video demonstration:

Video: Inserting a column into the middle of an existing document (without creating a mess)

How do you see yourself using columns in your documents?

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