Apr 17, 2018  Section breaks and column breaks in Word are might confusing for the uninitiated. This video walks you through every type of break in Microsoft.

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Introduction

Sometimes the information you include in your document is best displayed in columns. Not only can columns help improve readability, but some types of documents—like newspaper articles, newsletters, and flyers—are often written in column format. Word also allows you to adjust your columns by adding column breaks.

Optional: Download our practice document.

Watch the video below to learn more about columns in Word.

To add columns to a document:

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

Your column choices aren't limited to the drop-down menu that appears. Select More Columns at the bottom of the menu to access the Columns dialog box. Click the arrows next to Number of columns: to adjust the number of columns.

If you want to adjust the spacing and alignment of columns, click and drag the indent markers on the Ruler until the columns appear the way you want.

To remove columns:

To remove column formatting, place the insertion point anywhere in the columns, then click the Columns command on the Layout tab. Select One from the drop-down menu that appears.

Adding column breaks

Once you've created columns, the text will automatically flow from one column to the next. Sometimes, though, you may want to control exactly where each column begins. You can do this by creating a column break.

To add a column break:

In our example below, we'll add a column break that will move text to the beginning of the next column.

1. Place the insertion point at the beginning of the text you want to move.
2. Select the Layout tab, then click the Breaks command. A drop-down menu will appear.
3. Select Column from the menu.
4. The text will move to the beginning of the column. In our example, it moved to the beginning of the next column.

To learn more about adding breaks to your document, visit our lesson on Breaks.

To remove column breaks:

1. By default, breaks are hidden. If you want to show the breaks in your document, click the Show/Hide command on the Home tab.
2. Place the insertion point to the left of the break you want to delete.
3. Press the delete key to remove the break.

Challenge!

1. Open our practice document.
2. Scroll to page 3.
3. Select all of the text in the bulleted list below Community Reminders and format it as two columns.
4. Place your cursor at the beginning of the fourth bullet in front of the word Visitors.
5. Insert a column break.
6. When you're finished, your page should look something like this:

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Columns are a great way to neatly fit more text into your newsletters, flyers, and other documents.

If you want to create fancy documents with text layouts similar to a newspaper or newsletter, you can do so using the column feature in Word 2016. Columns are a great way to maximize the use of text in a document so you can incorporate additional information, such as a table or images. Breaking the column is usually the tricky part for some users. Also, remembering at what part in the document you want to start the column is important. In this article, we show you how to properly define a column and break it.

Format Text as a Column in Microsoft Word 2016

Before you create your columns, you might need to enter information such as a title and an introduction. It’s easier to format a column if there is some existing text on the page, so it’s better if you have some text, even it’s just a placeholder. Once you have some text on the page, begin a new line in your document. This is where you will create your column.

Select the Layout tab, then click Columns. You can choose from the list the number of columns you want or if you need more than three, click More Columns. Microsoft Word 2016 lets you create up to 12 columns in a document.

For the purposes of this article, we will go with two columns. Next, click the Apply to drop-down and choose This point forward, then click OK. This will tell Word to start the column at your cursor position in the document. If you don’t do this, then your title and introduction would end up being a part of the column. Click OK to confirm the changes.

You can begin typing the additional information for your columns. Different formatting can be applied just the same as normal such as bullets, fonts styles or line spacing.

Creating a Column Break

Add Columns In Microsoft Word

An important part of creating columns is breaking it. This helps to define the structure of the document. Instead of pressing the enter key until the cursor is in the next column, breaking gracefully tells Microsoft Word to place the cursor on the next side. To do that, place the cursor on a new line, turn off bullets if you were using any, go to the Layout tab, click Breaks then click Columns. You will notice the cursor jumps to the next column. You can continue typing the rest of the column.

Creating Columns In Microsoft Word

Return to a Single Column

So, we have completed the second column, your next step is to return to a single column in the document. To do that, place the cursor on a new line, turn off bullets if you were using any, go to the Layout tab, click Columns and then More Columns. Select One, click the Apply to drop-down and choose This point forward then click OK.

You can then type the remainder of the document.

Microsoft Word Mac Torrent

If you would like to squeeze more space for text in your columns, you can resize each using ruler. Another feature you can incorporate columns with is page breaks. This is great for creating complex documents with different page size and content.

Do you use columns in Word 2016? Let us know what you think of this handy feature.