Problems with 2 column layout in Microsoft Word 2010

I decided to launch a free magazine and therefore my budget is so low I cannot afford to buy any software for publishing. For that reason I am using my (licensed) copy of Microsoft Word 2010.

For the magazine I selected the 2-column layout except for the first few pages (cover,etc.) that use a single column. For the article titles I also use one column by selecting it and using Page Layout | Columns | Two. So far so good, when I write the text flows and when I get to the bottom of the first column the text flows to the top of the 2nd column.

However, I am having a big problem in that on ocasssions when I am about the middle of the page on the first column, the text suddenly begins flowing to the top of the 2nd column instead of filling up the first column to the bottom! No matter what I do I can't get rid of that odd and abnormal behaviour.

Can anybody tell me what is going on? It is as if suddenly that page is only half content and half empty! Now, for me this is a no show issue. I don't see a way to show any formatting characters that might be causing this anomaly.

Please help! I would hate to abandon this nice project just because Word seems incapable of behaving

September 4th, 2015 4:10pm

Word is likely behaving exactly as you've told it to!

I suspect you have a section break that changes to a single column. When you add text, it pushes that section break down the page and wraps the columns before the section break. Turn on the display of non-printing formatting marks.

Showing non-printing formatting marks in Microsoft Word

Sections / Headers and Footers in Microsoft Word 2007-2013

Basic Concepts of Microsoft Word - from Shauna Kelly

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September 4th, 2015 6:50pm

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