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Word Online Columns doesn't format selected text

Anonymous
2024-06-30T05:06:30+00:00

I cannot get Word Online to use Columns under the Layout tab to format my selected/highlighted text ONLY. Even with text already selected/highlighted, the entire document will change, not the selected text.

Is there another way to get the columns option to ONLY format the selected text in Word Online? All the guides and tutorials I've seen give these same steps.

EDIT: My current workaround is to use a table and remove the boarders, but if this is a feature that should be working in Word Online, I'd love to know what I'm doing wrong.

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  1. Stefan Blom 342.7K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2024-10-31T15:11:56+00:00

    Is this fixed yet or any plans to fix it?

    This is an intentional limitation in Word for the web, so it doesn't technically require a fix. In general, Word for the web is a rather limited version, which suggests that support for adding section breaks is unlikely to be added any time soon. That said, you can send feedback to Microsoft using the Help > Feedback command in Word for the web.

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-10-31T14:43:43+00:00

    Is this fixed yet or any plans to fix it?

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-06-30T09:43:37+00:00

    Dear Stacy Noland

    Welcome to the Microsoft Community, we are glad to assist you.

    We understand that you are experiencing a problem with separate paragraph columns in Word.

    It should be explained that if you need to separate a paragraph into two columns, you need to insert "continuous" section breaks before and after the paragraph. Otherwise, select the paragraph and then click on "Columns", "Columns" will be applied to the entire document, you need to use the first section breaks you want to format the paragraphs isolated.

    However, you can't realize this function on the web page, because there is no "section break" option on the web page, so this function can only be used in the client.

    We suggest you use this function in client side, if you can only use web side, you can use table instead.

    I hope you find the above information helpful. Please feel free to reply if you need further assistance.

    Best Regards,

    Tracy | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

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