How to Make Columns in Notion

Notion has dominated the personal productivity space, and with the recent add-ons, the software is getting popular among small teams and startups too. One of the biggest advantages of Notion is the default content management on a page. You aren’t restricted by paragraphs and media files only. You can create columns and make the entire page well-structured. Here’s how to make columns in Notion.

Columns play a major role in an average Notion page. You also notice excessive use of columns in some of the best Notion templates created by community members. Your Notion page looks bland without columns. We will show you how to create columns and customize them to your preferences.

Create Columns in Notion

While Notion is feature-rich, the user experience design is quite underwhelming. Meaning the software can be quite difficult for new users to navigate around. You can read our dedicated post to learn the top Notion tips and tricks and follow the steps below to start making columns.

Note: The tricks to add multiple columns in Notion work on an iPad too.  

Use Drag-and-Drop Method

There are several ways to make columns in a Notion page now. The drag-and-drop method is one of the easiest and oldest methods to create columns. Let’s quickly go through the steps.

Step 1: Create a new page in Notion app and type your column heading.

Step 2: Hit Enter and type another column heading below it.

Step 3: Hover the mouse over the second block (Column 2, in our case) and drag it beside the above block (Column 1).

Step 4: You may see a horizontal blue bar. Don’t drop your block there though.

Step 5: Slide the block to the left or right side until you see a vertical blur bar. Drop your block on a vertical bar, and your column is ready to use.

Similarly, you can create several columns per your needs and manage your workspace efficiently.  

Use the Slash (/) Command Menu

Sensing the popularity of creating columns in Notion, the company added another way to make columns on a page. The drag-and-drop method mentioned above can be inconvenient for some, and sometimes, the software doesn’t display a vertical blur bar to convert a block into a column. The slash (/) command offers can be a better option for the most.

If you are new to Notion, do note that the ‘/’ command plays a major role in the software. When you hit ‘/’, the software shows several options to turn your text into an advanced paragraph.

Step 1: Open any Notion page and type /.

Step 2: Start writing columns and check advanced block suggestions.

Step 3: You can create up to five columns.

Step 4: Notion doesn’t indicate your active columns, though. You need to hover the cursor over them to check the column blocks in action.

While Notion’s implementation could have been better, we still find it more convenient than the drag-and-drop method.

Create Columns From Existing Blocks

It is another neat trick to create columns from your existing Notion blocks. You can select relevant blocks and turn them into columns. Let’s check it in action.

Step 1: Launch any page in Notion and create several blocks with column headings.

Step 2: Select all blocks and click the six-dot menu.

Step 3: Expand the Turn into option.

Step 4: Select Columns.

Check all your columns in action and start organizing relevant information under them.

Customize Your Column Headings

After you create side-by-side columns in Notion, you can customize them. After all, your column heading needs to stand out from the standard text. There are several ways to customize a column heading in Notion. You can apply a ‘Heading’ style (1,2, or 3), add a color background, and even a divider for better differentiation.

Step 1: Click the six-dot menu beside a column and expand the Turn into option. Select Heading 2 or Heading 3. We don’t recommend turning it into Heading 1 as it looks quite large and attention-grabbing.

Step 2: Use the same menu and expand the Color option. Apply a nice color background to your column heading.

Step 3: You can also click the + icon beside a column and add a Divider from the context menu.

You can repeat the same for all the columns on a page. Ultimately, it’s up to you to customize the Notion columns with dozens of options at your fingertips.

Organize Your Notion Content in Style

Without columns, your Notion page looks like a long list of never-ending canvas. What are you waiting for? Create multiple columns and efficiently manage your wiki in Notion pages. If you have created a custom Notion page after dozens of hours of planning, share it with us in the comments below.