Create columns of text in a text box or shape

Right-click the text box, placeholder, or shape border, and select Format Shape.

On the right side of the window, select Text Options and choose   Textbox

At the bottom of the pane, select Columns.

Enter the number of columns in the Number box, and the space between each column (in inches) in the Spacing box.

If the Columns button is grayed out, it's likely because you are working on a table. Columns for tables are described in a separate article. See Add or delete table rows and columns.

Any text you now enter will appear in columns. If the object you right-clicked in step 1 already contained text, you'll see that the text now appears in columns.

You can adjust balance of text in your columns by adding or remove line breaks: Press Enter to add blank lines and move text to the next column, or press Backspace or Delete or remove blank lines and move text to the previous column.

You can also resize the box that contains the columns to make the columns more even.

Control-click the text box, placeholder, or shape border, and select Format Shape.

In the Format Shape pane, select Text Options and choose Textbox.

At the bottom of the pane, select Columns.

Enter the number of columns in the Number box, and the space between each column (in inches) in the Spacing box.

If the Columns button is grayed out, it's likely because you are working on a table. Columns for tables are described in a separate article. See Add or delete table rows and columns.

Any text you now enter will appear in columns. If the object you right-clicked in step 1 already contained text, you'll see that the text now appears in columns.

You can adjust balance of text in your columns by adding or remove line breaks: Press Enter to add blank lines and move text to the next column, or press Backspace or Delete or remove blank lines and move text to the previous column.

You can also resize the box that contains the columns to make the columns more even.