Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Mixing Column Formats On a Page.

Mixing Column Formats On a Page

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 6, 2026)

It is not uncommon to have a document that mixes different column layouts on a single page. For instance, let's assume you have a five-page document, and you want to format the center part of page two as three columns. You want the rest of the document to remain a single column. To overcome this formatting challenge, you can follow these steps:

Select the text that will appear in the columns.
Choose the Columns option from the Format menu. Word displays the Columns dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Columns dialog box.

In the Number of Columns field, specify the number of columns you desire.
In the Apply To box, make sure it says Selected Text.
Click on OK. Word places the selected text into its own section and sets it in the number of columns you specified.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1792) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Mixing Column Formats On a Page.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

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