Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Setting Up Multi-page Columns.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 7, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365
Ivan has been struggling trying to set up parallel columns that go from one page to the next. What he wants is, in landscape mode, to have three columns on the page. When the text reaches the bottom of a column, it flows to the same column on the next page, not to the next column on the same page.
The best solution for this is to use a table with a single row and as many columns as you need. The row can span multiple pages, and the text will stay in each cell of the table, as desired. You may have to play around with the formatting a bit (turning off borders, adjusting interior spacing, locking column width, adding columns for additional spacing, etc.), but once you get the hang of it, the approach is quite simple.
There is a caveat to all this, of course. Tables, while they can span multiple pages, can do some funny things if they span many, many pages. It is a good idea to periodically start a new row. If you do lots of this type of formatting, it is an even better idea to get a desktop publishing program, such as InDesign, which can make very short work of such layout challenges.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (9538) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Setting Up Multi-page Columns.
Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2013. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word 2013 Step by Step today!
Columns can be an integral part of your document layout. In some instances you may want Word to insert a vertical line ...
Discover MoreWhen laying out your document, you may wonder what width you should use for your text. An old typographers’ trick may ...
Discover MoreUsers of WordPerfect know what parallel columns are. There is no such capability in Word, but there are ways you can ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)
Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.
Visit the WordTips channel on YouTube
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here:
Comments