ARCHIVED: In Microsoft Word, how do I create and manage columns?
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In Microsoft Word, you can set up either traditional columns or newspaper-style columns. Traditional columns are simpler to set up, but can be difficult to work with, as you have to fill the first column before you can proceed to the next. With newspaper columns, however, you can more easily switch between columns; also, information you enter will not overflow into another column.
On this page:
Traditional columns
To create traditional columns in a document:
Word 2007
- Highlight the text you want to format; if you do not highlight any text, Word will format the entire document.
- Click the tab, and then select .
- Choose the format of your columns. You can select a preset, automatically formatted number of columns with equal spacing by clicking , , , or . You can also manually select the number, width, and spacing of the columns by clicking .
- Click .
Word 2003
- From the drop-down menu, select .
- Choose the format of your columns. You can choose from preset columns, or you can manually select the number, width, and spacing of the columns.
- Click .
Newspaper-style columns
To create newspaper-style columns using a table:
- Open a new document.
- In Word 2007, from the tab, click , and then select . In other versions of Word, from the menu, choose , and then choose .
- In the "Number of columns:" field, type the number of columns you
want in your document. For "Number of rows:", type
1
(the number one). - Click to create your table. At this point your table will probably be small.
You can also add or remove table borders:
- Move your cursor to the table. In Word 2007, from the tab, select . In previous versions of Word, from the menu, select .
- Choose the border options you want for your table. You can choose from presets (such as "None") on the left side of the window, or you can manually select which borders to turn on or off from the "Preview" section on the right.
- Beneath the "Preview" section, you will see "Apply to:". Make sure this option is set to if you want your border selection to apply to the entire table.
- If you see gray lines where you have chosen not to have a border,
don't worry. These are non-printing gridlines meant to help you see
where your columns are. To turn gridlines on and off:
- Word 2007: From the tab, select .
- Previous versions of Word for Windows: From the menu, choose or .
- Word for Macintosh: From the menu, check or uncheck .
This is document ahjv in the Knowledge Base.
Last modified on 2018-01-18 12:34:59.