How to Make Multiple Bullet Columns in Microsoft Word

To make multiple bullet columns in Word, select your bulleted list, go to Layout > Columns, and pick Two or Three. Use a column break to choose where each column starts.

You have a twelve-item bulleted list that runs down the left edge of a flyer and leaves the rest of the page empty. These steps are for Word for Microsoft 365 and Word 2019, 2021 and 2024 on Windows.

Columns or a Table: Which Fits Your List

Word gives you two ways to spread bullets across a page, and they behave differently.

• Columns treat the list as one continuous run of text, like a newspaper. When the first column fills, items flow into the next. Add or remove an item and everything after it shifts. This suits a single long list you just want to fit in less space, such as a packing list or a set of features.
• A table holds separate lists in separate cells. Nothing flows between them, so each list stays put, and you can give each one a heading that lines up across the page. This suits side-by-side lists with different topics, such as “Bring” and “Leave at home”.

If you are unsure, start with columns. You can switch to a table later if the items keep jumping between columns as you edit.

Put a Bulleted List Into Columns

Example: Elena is making a flyer for a community garden workday and has twelve bullets listing the tasks.

1. Type the items, one per line, and press Enter after each.
2. Select all the items, then click Bullets in the Paragraph group on the Home tab. (You can apply bullets before or after creating columns; doing it first is simpler.)
3. Keep only the list selected (not the heading above it) unless you want the heading inside the columns too.
4. Go to the Layout tab and click Columns. In older versions such as Word 2013, this tab is called Page Layout.
5. Choose Two or Three. The list rearranges right away.

Because only part of the page was selected, Word wraps that text in its own section, with continuous section breaks before and after it. That is what keeps your heading and the paragraphs below the list in a single column. Microsoft’s section break page explains that each section can have its own column layout, and that a Continuous break changes the layout without starting a new page.

To see those breaks, click Show/Hide (the paragraph mark button) on the Home tab. Deleting one of them by accident is a common reason the whole document suddenly turns into columns, so leave them alone unless you mean to remove the layout.

Choose Where Each Column Starts

Word decides on its own where the first column ends. If Elena wants the six planting tasks on the left and the six cleanup tasks on the right, she adds a column break:

1. Click at the start of the item that should begin the next column.
2. Go to Layout > Breaks > Column, or press Ctrl+Shift+Enter.

Everything from that point moves to the top of the next column. To remove the break, turn on Show/Hide, click just before the Column Break marker and press Delete. Microsoft’s column break instructions are written for Print Layout view, so switch to it (View > Print Layout) if the columns look wrong.

Column breaks are fixed. If you later add items to the first column, the break still sends the same item to the next column, which may leave the columns uneven. Check them after every round of edits.

Set Width, Spacing and a Dividing Line

The presets give equal columns with a standard gap. For more control, select the list and choose Layout > Columns > More Columns. The Columns dialog lets you:

• Type any number of columns, not just the presets.
• Set the Width and spacing for each column. Clear Equal column width first if you want, for example, a narrow left column of short items and a wider right one.
• Tick Line between to draw a thin vertical rule between columns, which helps when bullets in neighboring columns sit close together.

If the bullets look crowded, a smaller spacing value often helps more than shrinking the font. Microsoft covers these settings on its pages about creating multiple columns in Word and adding a line between columns.

Even Out Columns That End at Different Heights

Sometimes the first column fills to the bottom of the page while the second holds just two items. Two fixes, in order of preference:

1. Check for the ending break. With Show/Hide on, make sure a continuous section break sits right after the last item. If the columns run to the end of the document with no break, click after the last bullet and insert one with Layout > Breaks > Continuous. Word usually spreads the text across the columns more evenly when the columned section ends with that break.
2. Place the split yourself. Add a column break halfway through the list, as described above.

Side-by-Side Lists in a Borderless Table

When each column is its own list, a table keeps things tidy:

1. Go to Insert > Table and choose one row and as many columns as you need lists.
2. Type each list in its own cell, then select the cells and click Bullets on the Home tab.
3. To hide the grid, select the table, then on the Table Design tab open Borders and choose No Border. Menu names here can vary by version, so look for the Borders button if the labels differ.

If you want a heading that spans all the lists, add a row on top and combine its cells; the steps for merging cells in a Word table cover that.

Custom Bullets and Numbered Lists

For a flyer, a checkbox or leaf symbol may look better than a dot. Click the arrow beside Bullets and choose Define New Bullet. You can pick a Symbol, a Picture or change the Font, and set the alignment, per Microsoft’s page on defining new bullets and lists.

Numbered lists work in columns too. Because columns are one continuous list, the numbers should simply continue from the bottom of one column to the top of the next. If numbering restarts at 1 in the second column, right-click that number and look for Continue Numbering.

Word for the Web and Older Versions

Microsoft’s comparison of Word for the web and the desktop app says page layout is preserved in the browser but can’t be edited there, and that the web version offers built-in bullet styles rather than custom ones. A document with columns made in the desktop app keeps them when opened online, but plan to set up or change columns in the desktop app.

In Word 2013 and earlier the tab is called Page Layout instead of Layout; Microsoft’s current column pages cover Word 2016 and later.

Bullet Column Troubles and Fixes

The whole document went into columns. What happened?

Nothing was selected when you chose the column count, so Word applied it to the whole section. Press Ctrl+Z, select just the list, and try again.

How do I turn the columns back into one list?

Click inside the columned list and choose Layout > Columns > One. The section breaks stay behind; delete them with Show/Hide on if you no longer need them. Removing section breaks can change page layout around them, as covered in making one page landscape in Word, which uses the same breaks.

The bullets in the second column don’t line up with the first.

Usually one item carries different indent settings. Select the whole list and click Bullets off and on again, or right-click a bullet and choose Adjust List Indents to set the same Bullet position and Text indent for the whole list (Microsoft’s page on changing bullet indents shows the dialog). Also check that a stray empty paragraph at the top of a column isn’t pushing items down.

A blank page appeared after I added columns.

A Next Page break was probably used instead of a Continuous one. With Show/Hide on, find it, delete it, and insert a Continuous break if needed. More fixes for leftover pages are in deleting a page in Word.

Can I use columns in only one part of a page?

Yes. That is exactly what selecting the text first does. A page can have a single-column heading, a three-column list and a single-column paragraph under it.

Next step: apply columns to your list, switch on Show/Hide once to see where Word placed the breaks, and then add a column break if the split looks off.