It would be weird if Notion, as one of the most popular and fancy productivity tools, didn`t have simple layout design options. One such option, I`m talking about, is the possibility of creating a layout with multiple columns. In this short article, I will explain a few simple ways how to make columns in Notion.
By default, Notion has a single-column layout. It means that we just type text in separate rows. However, if you prefer to have two columns, three columns, or even more, you can easily achieve this.
Two Simple Ways to Make Columns in Notion
Let`s review two ways how to create columns in Notion.
1. Drag and Drop
Let’s say we have a text in two rows that we want to place in two columns. You can do this
by simply dragging the text to the place in the document where you want it to be. You just need to hover over the block with text you want to place elsewhere, and you`ll see a six-dot icon to the left.
Click on this six-dot icon and wait until the cursor changes to a hand or palm icon. Press and hold the left mouse button, then move the block to the desired location, such as to the right. You’ll notice that the text is now placed in two columns.
However, the area where the text is placed is relatively narrow, so line breaks would likely occur frequently while you are typing, and the document will be long in this case. So we can definitely fix it as well.
Hover over blocks again and wait until the cursor turns into this double arrow icon. Then press and hold the left mouse button, and then drag the vertical line control that appears to the side again. In this particular case, you can pull it either to the right or to the left. You can use these controls to place the text and adjust the column size to your liking.
That was the first approach, when we simply drag the text to the desired location in the document and add another column in Notion. Let`s take a look at the second one.
2. Using Inline Commands
We can use a specific command to create a few-column layout. So, what we can do is type in the block slash and then “2 columns” – /2columns – and then press Enter. This will make two columns in Notion automatically.
We can do the same for three three-column layout and for many more, in fact.
If you need to switch back to the single-column layout, simply place the cursor one block below the columns, and you’ll be back in a single-column layout. However, if you just hit Enter within the few-column block, we will remain in a few-column layout.
Now that you know how to create columns in Notion, I hope it will help you design better pages in Notion.
I`m a Project Manager with 10+ years of experience delivering complex digital products for startups, digital agencies, and enterprise clients. I have led distributed, multicultural teams of up to 70 specialists and managed project portfolios with annual budgets of up to $5M.
My core focus is team building, servant leadership, risk management, and stakeholder communication.
On this blog, I share practical, experience-based insights from real projects: what actually works in project delivery, where things usually break, and how to manage complexity without unnecessary bureaucracy.