Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. 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: Changing the Number of Columns.

Changing the Number of Columns

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 10, 2024)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

If you have already added columns to your document, Word lets you easily change the number of columns you are using. To do this, follow these steps:

If your document is formatted using more than one section and you only want to affect a single section, position the insertion point in the section that you want to affect.
Display the Layout (Page Layout earlier versions of Word) tab of the ribbon.
In the Page Setup group click Columns and then More Columns. Word displays the Columns dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Columns dialog box.

Change the value in the Number of Columns field to the number of columns desired.
Using the Apply To drop-down list, select Whole Document or This Section depending on what you want your change to affect.
Click on OK.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (12914) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Changing the Number of Columns.

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...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Inserting Footnotes Using Custom Footnote Marks

Automatic footnotes are easy to insert in Word documents. The default settings are usually fine for most projects. ...

Discover More

Unselecting a Chart Item

When formatting a chart, you select elements and then change the properties of those elements until everything looks just ...

Discover More

Word Count for Headers and Footers

Getting a word count for an entire document is rather easy. If you want a word count for a special part of a document ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 365 applications with VBA programming. Written in clear terms and understandable language, the book includes systematic tutorials and contains both intermediate and advanced content for experienced VB developers. Designed to be comprehensive, the book addresses not just one Office application, but the entire Office suite. Check out Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 365 today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Disappearing Column Formatting

Two things go into making your documents look just right: content and formatting. If the formatting seems to disappear on ...

Discover More

Displaying a Column Number

Word allows you to format your document to use columns. If you want to number those columns for a printout, Word provides ...

Discover More

Using Parallel Columns

Users of WordPerfect know what parallel columns are. There is no such capability in Word, but there are ways you can ...

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is 0 + 6?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

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.