Write in columns, with or without images, like a newspaper or newsletter
To write in columns in Word, go to Layout › Page Setup › Columns and choose Two or Three. More Columns lets you set width, spacing and a line between columns. If you select only part of the text, Word inserts continuous section breaks and keeps the title full width. To jump to the next column, use Layout › Breaks › Column.
You want a newsletter for the team or a handout for class, and you end up hammering the spacebar and Tab key so the text “looks” like two columns. It works until you change one word: then everything shifts and the pictures jump to the next page.
Word has real columns, like a newspaper. Text runs down the first column and, when it reaches the bottom, continues on its own in the next, like water filling one glass and spilling into the one beside it. You just decide how many columns, how wide, and in which part of the document.
In this guide you build a complete newsletter: a full-width title, two columns of text, one picture inside a column, another spanning both, and columns that end at the same height.
What you'll learn
- How to set the whole document or just one part in two or three columns
- How to adjust width, spacing and the line between columns
- How to force a column break and balance the ending
- How to place pictures inside a column or across both
- When a table is a better choice than columns
Step by step
Apply columns from Layout › Columns
Put the cursor in the text and go to Layout › Page Setup › Columns (in Word 2016/2019 the tab is called Page Layout). You'll see five quick options: One, Two, Three, Left and Right.
Left and Right create two columns of different widths: one narrow and one wide. They're handy for a sidebar with short facts next to the main text. If nothing is selected, the change applies to the whole section the cursor is in (in a document without section breaks, the whole document).
To go back to normal text, choose Columns › One.
Set width, spacing and a line between in “More Columns”
At the bottom of the same menu, click More Columns…. The Columns dialog box opens, where you control everything:
- Number of columns: as many as fit on the page.
- Width and spacing: the width of each column and the white gap between it and the next one.
- Equal column width: clear it to give each column a different width.
- Line between: draws a thin vertical rule, very newspaper.
At the bottom, Apply to sets where it takes effect: Whole document, This point forward or, if you had text selected, Selected text.
Keep the title full width with the columns below
A newsletter usually has its title across the page and the text in two columns. Select only the text below the title (not the title itself) and apply Columns › Two. Word inserts Continuous section breaks around the selection for you: the title stays in a one-column section and the text goes into a two-column one.
Another way: put the cursor right after the title, open More Columns… and set Apply to to This point forward. To understand what a section is and how to delete one without breaking anything, see section breaks and page breaks.
Turn on formatting marks (Ctrl+Shift+8) to see the “Section Break (Continuous)” lines Word created.
Push text to the next column with a column break
Sometimes you want a story to start at the top of the second column even though the first isn't full. Don't press Enter over and over. Put the cursor before the text that should move and go to Layout › Page Setup › Breaks › Column, or press Ctrl+Shift+Enter.
If you later add or remove text in the first column, the break keeps the story at the top of the second.
A column break in single-column text acts like a page break. Use it only inside an area that has columns.
Balance the columns with a continuous section break at the end
If the text doesn't fill the page, Word fills the left column first and leaves the right one short. To make both end at the same height, put the cursor at the end of the column text and choose Layout › Breaks › Continuous. Word splits the text evenly between the columns.
If you applied the columns to selected text, that closing break already exists and the columns usually come out balanced on their own.
Place a picture inside a column
Put the cursor in the column and use Insert › Illustrations › Pictures. You have two options:
- In Line with Text: the picture behaves like a big character and moves with its paragraph. It's the most stable choice. Make it as wide as the column by dragging a corner or typing the width in Picture Format › Size.
- Square or Top and Bottom: choose these from the Layout Options icon next to the picture if you want text to wrap around it or sit only above and below.
How anchors work and why pictures jump around: pictures that stay put.
In narrow columns, Square leaves gaps of two or three words beside the picture. In Line with Text usually looks better.
Make a picture span both columns
A large photo that crosses both columns can't be In Line with Text, because it would be trapped inside one column. Select it and go to Picture Format › Arrange › Wrap Text › Top and Bottom. Enlarge it to the page width and drag it to the top, above both columns.
Then, in the same menu, choose Fix Position on Page so it stays put while you edit. Both columns flow underneath the photo.
Alternative without floating pictures: put the photo in a one-column area between two continuous section breaks, as you did with the title.
Add a caption that stays with the picture
Right-click the picture and choose Insert Caption… (or References › Captions › Insert Caption). With an In Line with Text picture, the caption is a normal paragraph right below it and travels with it in the column. With a floating picture, Word puts the caption in a text box: select the picture and the caption and group them with Picture Format › Arrange › Group so they don't drift apart.
Automatic numbering and “see Figure 2” references: figure captions and cross-references.
Build the complete newsletter
Put it all together in this order and you'll have a clean newsletter that survives edits:
- Title and date in one column.
- Main photo with Top and Bottom and a fixed position, full width.
- News in two columns with Line between.
- A column break so “Upcoming events” starts at the top of the second column.
- Small photos In Line with Text, as wide as their column, with captions.
- A continuous section break at the end to balance, and a one-column footer with contact details.
If an AI writes the stories for you, paste just the text and apply the columns yourself: that way you don't drag in odd formatting.
Expert tips
- Don't fake columns with spaces. With tabs or spaces, every line stands alone: change one word and everything shifts, and text never flows from one column into the next.
- Use a table when rows must align. For side-by-side items that have to match row by row (a bilingual contract clause by clause, product and description), a borderless table beats columns: well-built tables.
- Turn on hyphenation for justified text. In narrow columns, justified text leaves white rivers. Turn on Layout › Page Setup › Hyphenation › Automatic or align left.
- Use the ruler. With the ruler showing (View › Show › Ruler) you can drag each column's edge to change its width by eye.
Common mistakes and how to fix them
You apply two columns and the title splits in two as well.
Undo with Ctrl+Z, select only the text below the title and apply Columns › Two again. Or use More Columns › Apply to: This point forward with the cursor after the title.
The right column is almost empty at the end of the text.
Insert a continuous section break at the end of the column text (Layout › Breaks › Continuous) so Word balances both columns.
A wide picture gets squeezed into one column or runs past the margin.
Change its wrapping to Top and Bottom, place it above both columns and choose Fix Position on Page. Or put it in a one-column area between continuous section breaks.
You lay out a newsletter with a table and text won't flow from one cell to the next.
Cells don't talk to each other. For running text use real columns; keep tables for content that must line up row by row.
In Word for Mac the path is the same: Layout › Columns › More Columns…, and the column break is under Layout › Breaks › Column. Picture wrapping options are under Picture Format › Wrap Text.
Frequently asked questions
Can one page have one column and another have two?
Yes. Each section has its own number of columns. Separate the areas with section breaks (Continuous on the same page, Next Page for a new page) and apply columns to each section.
How do I remove columns without deleting the text?
Put the cursor in the column area and choose Layout › Columns › One. If leftover section breaks remain, show them with formatting marks and delete them.
Is a table or columns better for a text in two languages?
A table. If each English paragraph must sit opposite its translation, a table keeps the rows aligned even when one language runs longer. Columns let text flow, so it would drift out of line.
Why does my picture jump to the other column or the next page?
Because it's anchored to a paragraph that moved. Use In Line with Text or fix its position on the page, as explained in pictures that stay put.
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