problem: text jumps to the next column

[dleskyword]

I have five columns on my page. By the time that I finish the second line of
my first column, the text cursor jumps to the second column, instead of
wrapping back to the third line of my first column. How can I prevent this?
I want the text in each of my columns to be independent.

 

[Peter T. Daniels]

It would probably be simpler to use a five-column, one-row Table (with
no Borders) than columns to do that; have you checked that all the
Format Paragraph properties like Keep Lines Together, Keep With Next,
etc., are turned off?

You're not pressing Enter at the end of each line, are you?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

This happens because the columns are "balanced," and Word wants to
distribute the text evenly across the columns. If this behavior annoys you
(and I can see that it would), you can either work in Normal/Draft view
(which displays text as a single column) or temporarily insert a column
break below your text using Ctrl+Shift+Enter.

Alternatively, there is a Compatibility Option "Don't balance columns for
Continuous section starts."

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org