Columns

Tips, Tricks, and Answers

The following articles are available for the 'Columns' topic. Click the article's title (shown in bold) to see the associated article.

Adding Columns to Your Page Layout
Most documents are created using a single column of text. Word, however, allows you to use many, many columns in your document layout. Here's how to specify how many columns should be used.

Adding Vertical Lines Between Columns
If your document uses a layout that includes columns, you may want Word to add a vertical line between your columns. Adding the line is quick and easy, requiring the selection of a single check box, as described in this tip.

Adjusting Column Width from the Keyboard
It's easy to adjust the width of table columns using the mouse, but what if you don't want to use the mouse? Adjusting column width using the keyboard is more difficult, but it can be done with the help of some macros.

Changing Column Width
Once you've divided your document into columns, you may need to change the width of each column. Word allows you to change each column's width independent of the others. This tip explains how to perform this task.

Changing the Number of Columns
If you need to change the number of columns used in a portion of your document, it's easy to do when you use the Columns dialog box. This tip examines the steps you need to follow to get just the number of columns you want.

Changing the Number of Columns in the Middle of a Document
Formatting part of a document so that it contains columns can help in the layout of some documents. This formatting trick is easy to do if you remember to set off the text in columns so it is in its own section. This tip presents the steps to follow to get the desired multi-column result.

Determining a Column Width
When you start to create a document, you need to "lay it out" so that it is inviting and helpful to readers. This tip discusses some of the things you'll want to consider as you determine how wide your text columns should be.

Indenting a Paragraph
A common task in formatting is to indent paragraphs. Word provides several different ways you can make the desired indents. You can pick the method that you find easiest, or you can use them all—it's up to you!

Jumping Between Columns
If your document is divided into columns, you can use a handy shortcut to jump from one column to the other. One shortcut allows you to jump forward through the columns, while another allows you to jump backward.

Mixing Column Formats On a Page
Want to switch the number of columns used for your text, in the middle of a page? You can do this very easily by following the steps in this tip.

Quickly Changing Columns
One of the tools on the Formatting toolbar is the Columns tool. You can use this tool to make quick changes to the number of columns in a document or in a portion of a document.

Self-adjusting Column Widths
Column width is dependent on the margin settings you've set for your document. If you change margin width after you've already established columns, you may wonder how that affects the existing column width. This tip has the answers.

Setting Up Multi-page Columns
Do you want the text in your columns to go from page to page in the same column rather than from left to right on the same page? Although not the perfect solution for demanding layouts, the best way to accomplish this task is to use tables.

Using a Single-Column Heading in a Multi-Column Layout
When using more than one column in your document layout, you may want to create a heading that spans multiple columns. This is easy to do when you follow the technique discussed in this tip.

Vertical Lines in Word
Lines are a common addition to documents. Word provides several different methods by which you can add vertical lines to your document. This tip describes each of these methods so you can pick the one that best matches your needs.