More column break issues

[Amy Herzog]

I am using Microsoft Word 2004 for Mac, Version 11.2, running on Mac
OSX 10.4.3. I'm current with all my updates. The problem that I am
having has been mentioned in this forum previously (for Office X), but
the solutions suggested did not work for me.

The problem is that under the "Insert" menu, there is no option for
"Columm Break," only for Page Break and Section Break. When I select
Section Break, it is always inserted as "Section Break (Next Page)"--
in other words, I cannot manually enter a continuous section break.
This occurs even when the text is already placed in columns. This
makes it virtually impossible to set the beginnings and ends of
columns.

I've tried resetting the preferences, as instructed in a previous
thread re: Office X version of Word, but this didn't work. I'm pulling
my hair out here-- can anyone help?

Thanks!

 

[Elliott Roper]

I am using Microsoft Word 2004 for Mac, Version 11.2, running on Mac
OSX 10.4.3. I'm current with all my updates. The problem that I am
having has been mentioned in this forum previously (for Office X), but
the solutions suggested did not work for me.

The problem is that under the "Insert" menu, there is no option for
"Columm Break," only for Page Break and Section Break. When I select
Section Break, it is always inserted as "Section Break (Next Page)"--
in other words, I cannot manually enter a continuous section break.
This occurs even when the text is already placed in columns. This
makes it virtually impossible to set the beginnings and ends of
columns.

Perhaps your menus are broken.
Here the main menu bar shows insert->break-> with six options, which
are:- page, column and four flavours of section break: next page,
continuous, odd page, even page.

Recently one of my menu items went missing. I got it back following
this advice from the delectable Beth.

Tools> Customize> Toolbars.  Select Menu Bar and click Reset.

Once your menus are back and squeaky clean:-
If you want to change the number of columns mid-page then what you want
to insert is the continuous section break.

Then, with the cursor in the new section, format->columns and choos how
many columns you would like.

The result might look a bit disappointing if you are in normal view.
Hop into page view to admire your work.

 

[Amy Herzog]

I've tried this, with no success. Even when I look under "Insert"
while in the customize mode, there are only two break options: next
page and section break, with no variations on what kind of section.
I've tried resetting and de-and-re-selecting "Menu Bar." No go. I'm
very familiar with how to use column breaks from using earlier versions
of Word for Mac.

 

[Amy Herzog]

Wait a minute-- I just found the fix. Going to "Commands" under
customize (not "Toolbars"), under "All Commands," I found "Column
Break" and was able to drag that up to the tiny drop down "Insert"
Menu. This is extremely round about and not intuitive, though, and I'm
a pretty experienced Word user. Is this a bug in the new version? It
was very frustrating!!

Thanks for your help-- hope this helps someone else who runs into this
problem.

 

[Amy Herzog]

Word 5.1 menus-- that was it. All the break options are back, under
an arrow. Not sure how that got turned on, but I didn't notice it.
Thanks so much! I started having problems when I updated my OS--
perhaps it happened then (that's when the "break" submenu disappeared)?
Not sure, but I really appreciate your help.

 

[Amy Herzog]

Ah-ha! I've occasionally hit control-8 instead of option-8 by mistake,
which solves the mystery. I've disabled the short cut. Thanks for
solving this-- I was going batty.

 

[stedman]

Brilliant help! I just turned off my Ctrl-5 and Ctrl-8 to avoid this
potential problem.

And I wanted to thank you for adding the "refresh for Safari" comment
under the trouble-shooting link. I appreciate how responsive you are.