# Setting up Word to do independent columns.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/setting-up-word-to-do-independent-columns/531899
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 9, 2010, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/setting-up-word-to-do-independent-columns/531899 "2010-03-09T20:42:13Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)
#### Post date: [March 9, 2010, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/setting-up-word-to-do-independent-columns/531899/1 "2010-03-09T20:42:13Z")
I would like to transcribe some court documents, and since I have word I might as well use it. However, these documents all have three columns, they are probate records. I know you can set up columns in Word, however they go down the first one then come back up to the next one.
Is there a way to set it up so that each column is independent of each other? The closest I could come up with is to do tables, but that seems like a really hard way to do it. I’m sure there’s a better way to do it, I just don’t know how.
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### Author:  [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)
#### Post date: [March 9, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/setting-up-word-to-do-independent-columns/531899/2 "2010-03-09T20:46:18Z")
It sounds to me that Tables is the way to go. With Columns, text automatically flows from one column to the next. You have a lot more control over where things go with Tables – and inevitably, having control means more work.
Another way to do it would be with Text Boxes, but I think you’d find that even harder to work with than Tables.
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### Author:  [@Ruminator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruminator)
#### Post date: [March 9, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/setting-up-word-to-do-independent-columns/531899/3 "2010-03-09T20:46:44Z")
> [@Edward\_The\_Head](#):
>
> Is there a way to set it up so that each column is independent of each other? The closest I could come up with is to do tables, but that seems like a really hard way to do it. I’m sure there’s a better way to do it, I just don’t know how.
The 2nd link in the following google results confirm your experiments. You have to use tables to simulate that feature.
> **[Google Search](http://www.google.com/search?client=opera&rls=en&q=%22microsoft%2Bword%22%2Bindependent%2Bcolumns&sourceid=opera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8)**
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### Author:  [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)
#### Post date: [March 9, 2010, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/setting-up-word-to-do-independent-columns/531899/4 "2010-03-09T20:53:07Z")
On the print layout, click columns.
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### Author:  [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2010, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/setting-up-word-to-do-independent-columns/531899/5 "2010-03-10T00:41:01Z")
I forgot to add that I have Word 2007. I think tables maybe the only way to go, but it doesn’t seem to be that hard, the last two columns are mostly numbers anyway so they are small, and everything seems to line up correctly.