Columns are a great way to present certain types of information, like lists and news
articles.
Not only can they improve readability—they can also help you get the most out of your
page layout.
In this document, there's a lot of unused space on the right.
If we formatted the text into columns, it would fill this space, and we'd be able to
fit more information on the page.
To get started, select the text that you want to format.
Then go to the Page Layout tab... and click the Columns command.
Here, you can choose one of the predefined styles (like two or three columns), or you
can click More to access even more options.
In this example, we're going to choose Two.
Now our list of contact info is displayed as two separate columns.
But I'd really like the Leasing Office section to start in the second column—and to do
that, I'm going to insert a column break.
Column breaks work a lot like page breaks.
Just place your cursor where you want the break to begin... then click the Breaks command.
Next, choose Column from the menu... and the text will move to the top of the next column.
There are several other ways that you can customize columns in Word.
For example, you can adjust the layout using the indent markers here.
You can also open the More Columns dialog box... and fine-tune settings like the exact
width of each column, and the amount of space between them.
If you change your mind, you can easily remove the columns from your document without deleting
the text.
Just start by selecting your columns.
Next, click the Columns command... and this time, choose One from the menu.
If you had any column breaks, you may need to make some adjustments to return the text
to its original layout.
In this example, I'm going to place my cursor at the end of the current section... and press
Delete a couple of times... then press Enter to return the text to its own line.
As you can see, working with columns is easy.
You just have to know how to customize them—using the column breaks feature, and the rest of
the options Word has to offer.