WD2000: Changing Orientation After Changing Columns Causes Error (240171)

SYMPTOMS

When you change the page orientation from landscape to portrait, the following error message appears:

Settings you chose for the left and right margins, column spacing, or paragraph indents are too large for the page width in some sections.

This problem occurs when you change the number of columns on a landscape page using the Columns button on the Standard toolbar, and then you change the page orientation to Portrait (click Page Setup on the File menu, and then click the Paper Size tab).

CAUSE

When you use the Columns button on the Standard toolbar, the column widths are not set to an "equal column width". Thus, Microsoft Word does not recalculate the page layout information correctly when you change the orientation to Portrait.

This problem does not occur when you use the Columns command on the Format menu. When you use the Columns command on the Format menu, the column width is set to Equal column width by default, thus the page layout information is correctly changed, and the columns are set to an equal width within the portrait orientation.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, set the columns to an equal width. To do this, follow these steps:

On the Format menu, click Columns.
Click to select the box for Equal column width, and then click OK.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.