Easy Tech TutsHow to Make Uneven Columns in Google Docs
By Impran M NLast checked against official docs
Format, Columns in Google Docs only ever produces equal-width columns: one, two, or three, with adjustable spacing and an optional dividing line. There's no setting, in More options or anywhere else, that lets one column run wider than another.
Google's own support forum confirms this directly: dragging the column marker on the ruler resizes both sides together, and a Google product expert's answer to someone asking for uneven columns is to use a table instead. A table is also the practical fix.
Insert a two-column table, set each cell to the width you want, and turn off the borders so it reads as text in two columns instead of a grid. This guide covers that path, plus where the native Columns feature reaches its limit.
01Open the document you're formatting
Start from your Google Docs home screen and open the file that needs the layout. A blank document works too if you're building from scratch.
02Check where Format, Columns stops
Select some text, click Format, hover over Columns, and choose More options. The dialog that opens has exactly three controls: number of columns, spacing between them in inches, and an optional line between columns.
There's no field for individual column width anywhere in it. Drag the column marker on the ruler above a two-column layout instead, and both columns resize together. Google's product experts have confirmed on the support forum that this is a hard limit of the feature, not a setting you've missed.
03Insert a two-column table instead
Click Insert, hover over Table, and choose a 2x1 grid: two columns, one row. Table cells hold their width independently of each other, unlike the newspaper-style Columns feature, which is what makes an uneven layout possible at all. Type or paste your narrow-column content into the left cell and the wider content into the right one.
04Set each column's exact width
Hover over the vertical line between the two cells until the cursor turns into a two-way arrow, then drag it to roughly the split you want. For an exact measurement, click into a cell, open Format, then Table, then Table options, and type a width in inches for that cell. If the layout gets scrambled, right-click inside the table and choose Distribute columns to reset both cells to equal width and start over.
05Remove the table's visible lines
With the table selected, open the border tool, or Format, Table, Table options, and set the border width to 0pt, or set the border color to match the page background. Either way, the grid disappears and the layout reads as two plain columns of text instead of a table. Text wrapping around an image inside a cell can behave inconsistently, so for a photo in one column, give it its own line in the cell instead of relying on wrap.
When it doesn't work
Dragging the ruler marker to narrow one column also narrows the wrong side, or resizes both
Why: Google Docs' native Columns feature only supports equal-width columns. The two sides are linked; there's no independent width control.
Fix: Use a table instead of Format, Columns for anything asymmetrical.
The layout still looks like a table, with visible grid lines
Why: Tables default to a visible 1pt border.
Fix: Select the table and set the border width to 0pt, or match the border color to the page background.
An image in one column doesn't wrap the way it would in a real newspaper-style column
Why: Text wrapping around images inside table cells is inconsistent.
Fix: Give the image its own line inside the cell instead of relying on wrap, or place it above or below the paragraph text.
Frequently asked questions
Does Google Docs support uneven columns natively?
No. Format, Columns, including its More options dialog, only offers equal-width layouts of one, two, or three columns. There's no per-column width setting.
What does the More options dialog let me change?
Three things: the number of columns, the spacing between them, and whether a line appears between columns. Column width isn't one of them.
So how do people get an uneven, side-by-side layout in Docs?
With a table. A two-column, one-row table holds each cell's width independently, then you turn off the visible borders so it reads as columns instead of a grid.
Can I set an exact width instead of dragging?
Yes. Click into a cell, open Format, Table, Table options, and type a width in inches.
Does this table workaround behave the same on the mobile app?
Inserting a table works on mobile, but setting an exact width and adjusting borders is easier on the desktop web version, where the Format menu gives direct access to Table options.
Sources and last check
The earlier draft of this guide described an 'Equal column widths' checkbox inside Format, Columns, More options that would unlock independent widths per column. That checkbox doesn't exist. Checked against Google's official Help Center articles on columns and tables, and against the Google Docs Editors Community, where a Google product expert confirms the columns feature only supports equal widths, in September 2026. The guide was rewritten around the table-based method that genuinely produces an uneven layout.
About the author
Impran M N
I've been hooked on technology for as long as I can remember — especially the new tools and AI apps that seem to land every other week. Easy Tech Tuts is where I write up whatever I've just worked out: I do the task in the real product, record the screen, and turn it into the guide I wish I'd found first.
