Microsoft Word 2013 - How to make double column list

In MS word 2013 when I go to Page Layout > Columns > 2 , it creates 2 columns but they are not "individual" in the sense that I cannot start typing from the top of the right column, nor can I type in the left column without pushing the white space down into the right column.

Is there any way to make 2 side by side independent lists aside from using a table?

4 Answers

If you have two columns, and would like to type in the second, you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+Enter (called a Column Break) to begin typing in the second column. This will allow you to keep adding content to the first column independently, providing they do not spill over into each other.

Alternatively (this may help future users, even though not you) you can go to Insert, Tables, and Insert Table... For the number of columns put two, for the number of rows put one. This allows you to keep typing in the box, and as you reach the end of your line it automatically drops down to the next. If you do not want to keep the lines outlining the columns, right click on your table, go to Table Properties, Borders and Shading, and select "None" under settings in the Table tab.

In response to blm i have revised the post. The accepted answer above mentions the use of Column breaks, which lets you add two or more columns. But what was not mentioned was the continuous section break that's needed if you only want part of the document to use columns. If you add columns to Word, that format will get applied for the remainder of the document, in order to only use columns for a part of the page you need to use the continuous section break to return Word back to normal.
Often times people resort to using tables because they do not know how to correctly use the various breaks in Word.
If you want to add bullet points and have the bullet points spread out across columns, you can do this in Word by first adding the bullet points and then inserting a column break. You would do this for the number of columns you need and on the final column after your text instead of a column break you insert a continuous section break. The advantage of the column breaks & continuous break is that once you get the hang of it its often easier to reorganize the text into columns, with tables you have to cut and paste if need to restructure the information.
This option for the breaks is found in the ribbon - Page Layout > Breaks, there you will see the option for Column & Continuous as well as a few others, this is an alternative to memorizing the keyboard shortcut.
Another very useful tool in Word that further aides when working with breaks can be found on the Home tab, the Show/Hide paragraphs (backwards P icon), in the Paragraph section on the ribbon. This tool shows the various formatting features applied on the document such as blank spaces (which are represented as dots), column breaks, section breaks, line breaks, page breaks etc.

Show / Hide view of columns in only section of word document

To clarify Mike H's excellent answer, the use of the continuous section break is vital. Otherwise, the rest of the document will be in columns.

The process is:

• Write your bulleted list
• Place the cursor at the end of the bullet item where you want the first column to end
• Click on Layout->Columns->Two (answer assumes two, can be expanded for more)
• Click on Breaks->Column
• Place the cursor at what is now the bottom of the second column
• Click on Breaks->Continuous
• Press Enter to get a new line
• Click on Layout->Columns->One

At that point, your bulleted list should be in two columns and the rest of your document can continue with one column.

For anybody who still needs help or looking for a easier solution, here's what to do (tested on Office 2016):

• First create a bulleted list of your items as you would normally do
• Once the list is created, select the whole list using your mouse
• Click on Layouts > Columns > Two
• And that's it. The last step would automatically convert your bulleted list in a two-column layout while keeping the rest of the document in a single column layout

Hope this helps.