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How to remove all column breaks in Word?

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Removing a single column break in a Word document is straightforward, but efficiently removing all column breaks in a long document can be more challenging.

Whether you're working on a lengthy report or a complex document, knowing how to quickly remove all column breaks can save you a significant amount of time. This tutorial will guide you through several methods for removing all column breaks in a Word document:

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Remove column breaks one by one

Manually removing column breaks in Word can be done step by step. Follow these instructions to remove them one at a time or multiple at once.

  1. To display column break marks in the document, click "Home" > "Show/Hide".
    Show/Hide button on the ribbon
  2. Put the cursor before the column break you want to remove.
    Column break mark in a document
    Tip: To remove multiple column breaks, hold down the Ctrl key and select the column breaks one by one.
  3. Press the Delete key on your keyboard.

Note: Selecting column breaks one by one can be arduous and time-consuming, especially if the document contains more than 200 pages. In such cases, use the following methods.

Remove all column breaks with the Find and Replace

  1. Click "Home" > "Replace" to open the Find and Replace utility. Or use the shortcut key Ctrl + H.
  2. Click the "More>>" button to expand more options.
    Find and Replace dialog box with the 'More loading=>' button selected" />
  3. Place the cursor in the "Find What" field, and select "Column Break" from the "Special" pull-down menu.
    Column Break selected in Find and Replace
  4. A "^n" character will appear in the "Find What" field. Click "Replace All" to remove all column breaks.
    Find and Replace dialog box with '^n' and Replace All

Remove all column breaks with Kutools for Word

There is a quicker and more convenient way to remove all column breaks in Word. With Kutools for Word, you can easily remove all column breaks from the entire document or a specific selection with just one click.

Kutools for Word

Kutools for Word helps you handle everyday document tasks faster with practical tools built right into Microsoft Word—no coding, no complex setup.

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  • To remove column breaks in a specific range, select the range and click "Kutools" > "Breaks" > "Remove All Column Breaks in Selected Range".
  • To remove column breaks across the entire document, leave everything unselected and click "Kutools" > "Breaks" > "Remove All Column Breaks in Selected Range".
    Remove All Column Breaks with Kutools

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Remove all column breaks using VBA

If you are familiar with VBA coding, you can use a macro to quickly remove all column breaks from your document. Follow these steps to achieve this:

  1. Press Alt + F11 to open the "Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications" window.
  2. Click "Module" on the "Insert" tab, then paste the following VBA code: 
    Sub Delecolumnbreaks()
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find
.Text = "^n"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = False
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchByte = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchWildcards = False
.MatchFuzzy = False
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
End Sub
  3. Click the Run button or press F5 to execute the VBA.

Note: If "Track Changes" is enabled, the VBA may not successfully remove all column breaks.

Demo: How to remove column breaks in Word

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