How To Create Newspaper Columns In Word

Stack of newspapers with text overlay "How to Create Newspaper-Style Columns in Microsoft Word"

Newspaper-style columns, which are also called newsletter columns, allow text and images to flow from one column to the next. This tutorial shows how to create newspaper-style columns in Microsoft Word. We'll also look at how to create column breaks and how to return to a single column.

Quick Links:

How to Create Newspaper-Style Columns
How to Create Column Breaks
How to Return to a Single Column

This tutorial is also available as a YouTube video showing all the steps in real time.

Watch more than 100 other videos about Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat on my YouTube channel.

The images below are from Word for Microsoft 365. These steps will also work in Word 2019 and Word 2016.

Important Note: The steps to create columns are the same in Word 2013 and Word 2010. However, the steps to add column breaks are different in Word 2013 and Word 2010. In addition, your interface may look slightly different in those older versions of the software.

How to Create Newspaper-Style Columns

These steps show how to convert your current section or selected text into multiple columns. If your document doesn't have section breaks or you don't select specific text, the columns will be applied to the entire document.

Place your cursor in the section where you want to create columns. Or, select the text you want formatted as columns. If you want the entire document formatted as columns, you can place your cursor anywhere in the text.
Select the Layout tab in the ribbon.

Layout tab in Word 365 — Figure 1. Layout tab

Select Columns in the Page Setup group.

Columns button in Word 365 — Figure 2. Columns button

Select an option from the drop-down menu:

- Two
- Three
- Left (This option creates a thin column on the left side of the page.)
- Right (This option creates a thin column on the right side of the page.)

Alternatively, you can select More Columns for additional options.

Columns menu in Word 365 — Figure 3. Columns menu

If you selected More Columns, use the Columns dialog box to create and customize your columns:

A. Use the menu arrows to enter a specific number of columns.

Important Note: The other options in the Columns dialog box only respond to numbers entered with the "Number of columns" menu arrows; they won't respond to numbers typed into the text box.

B. Use the menu arrows to choose a column width and spacing between columns. (Uncheck Equal column width if you want to enter specific widths for individual columns.)

C. Select Line between to add a vertical line between the columns.

Columns dialog box in Word 365 — Figure 4. Columns dialog box option

Select the OK button to close the Columns dialog box.

OK button in the Columns dialog box in Word 365 — Figure 5. OK button

Your text should now be formatted with columns.

Pro Tip: Add Images after Creating Columns

If your document contains images when you create columns, the images may need to be manually resized to fit in the columns, which can be difficult if the images are large.

Instead, add images after creating the columns; Word will automatically resize the images to fit within the existing columns.

Example of column with image in Word 365 — Figure 6. Example of an image in a column

How to Create Column Breaks

The following steps show how to create a column break that will move the text after the break to the next column.

Important Note: The steps to create column breaks are different in Word 2013 and Word 2010. Please see the Microsoft Support website for more information.

Insert your cursor where the break should begin.
Select the Layout tab in the ribbon (see figure 1).
Select Breaks in the Page Setup group.

Breaks button in Word 365 — Figure 7. Breaks button

Select Column in the drop-down menu.

Column Break option in Word 365 — Figure 8. Column break option

The content after the break should move to the next column.

How to Return to a Single Column

The following steps show how to return your text to the normal one-column format.

Insert your cursor into the text formatted with multiple columns.
Select the Layout tab in the ribbon (see figure 1).
Select Columns in the Page Setup group (see figure 2).
Select One from the drop-down menu.

One column option in Word 365 — Figure 9. One column option

Your text should return to a single column.

Important Note: If you selected specific text to be converted to columns, Word automatically created section breaks before and after the columns. Those section breaks may stay in your text unnecessarily after you return to a single-column format. Continue with step 5 to locate and remove those breaks.