Creating a Split Page

maria longoria

I expect that you have found the solution to your problem by now, but just in case...

You may have omitted step 6 in Allen's procedure. I have had the same problem you described until I went to the Properties in the table's Layout tab and, on the Row tab, made sure that the "Allow row to break across pages" was checked.

Sabina Saldanha,
The procedure that you describe will create two columns, but the text will fill up the first column, then will flow into the second column.
With Alan's procedure--using an invisible two-column table--you can enter text into each column independently. When text fills the first column, it flows into the first column of the next page.

maria longoria,
It sounds as though your rows are set to a fixed height, are set to prevent breaking across pages, or both. To correct these settings:
1. Select the entire table, or select one row at a time.
2. right-click, then select Table Properties.
3. Select the Row tab.
4. Make sure that "Specify height" is cleared.
5. Make sure that "Allow row to break across pages" is selected.
6. Select OK.

Thank you sooooo much! As a writer occasionally wishing to script concurrent scenes on each half of the page - this has driven me crazy for ages, using just Columns - which also made a nightmare of the Page Numbers! Your easy-to-follow Tables solution has made my day!!

Extremely hard to understand.

Thanks alot for this simple trick.....I nearly eat my brain

I just sent you a question regarding this same subject (I think). My issue was that I had too much text in cells, and text would disappear once it hit the bottom of page--and would not continue on the following page. Is this what these steps would cure? I would need the columns' width NOT to change, since I want all to be the same width. what steps would I need to take so that text runs to top of next page? THANK YOU!!

I found this tip regarding the same issue that seems to be a better option.
Word 2007 or 2010
1. Open a Word document that you want to format into columns.
2. Click the 'Page Layout' tab. Click 'Columns' in the 'Page Setup' group.
3. Select 'Two.'
4. Click 'Columns' again, then 'More Columns' to customize the columns further. In the 'Columns' dialog box, click the 'Line between' box to place a vertical line between the two columns. Use the width and spacing boxes to adjust the column width and white space between them. Click 'OK.'
5. Click the 'Microsoft Office Button' or 'File' tab. Click 'Save' to save your document.
Word 2003
6. Open a Word document that you want to format into columns.
7. Select the text you want to split into two columns. Click the 'Edit' menu, then 'Select All' to format the entire document.
8. Click the 'Columns' icon on the 'Standard' toolbar. Drag your cursor to select two columns.
9. Click the 'File' menu, then 'Save' to save your document.