When trying to do a page setup in the middle of a document, I get a pop-up
message that 'column widths cannot be less than 0.5"'. There are tables in
the document, but none have column widths less than 0.5" The error message
aborts my page setup; it not just informational.

When Word talks about column widths, it's usually talking about
Format--Columns columns, not table columns. You might want to make sure you
don't have any columns set up somehow.
*******************
~Anne Troy

www.OfficeArticles.com
www.MyExpertsOnline.com


"D. Zalkin" D. wrote in message
...
When trying to do a page setup in the middle of a document, I get a pop-up
message that 'column widths cannot be less than 0.5"'. There are tables
in
the document, but none have column widths less than 0.5" The error
message
aborts my page setup; it not just informational.

Nice try, but I don't think that's it. I went to Format--Columns, where it
was set to the default of 1 15" column. I was trying to change from a
previous section of 11x17 landscape paper to a letter size portait; could it
have found an incompatibility there, and if so, how can I remove it? I tried
to make the 1 column 6" (compatible with 8 1/2 inch paper, but it wouldn't
take it.

"Anne Troy" wrote:

When Word talks about column widths, it's usually talking about
Format--Columns columns, not table columns. You might want to make sure you
don't have any columns set up somehow.
*******************
~Anne Troy

www.OfficeArticles.com
www.MyExpertsOnline.com


"D. Zalkin" D. wrote in message
...
When trying to do a page setup in the middle of a document, I get a pop-up
message that 'column widths cannot be less than 0.5"'. There are tables
in
the document, but none have column widths less than 0.5" The error
message
aborts my page setup; it not just informational.

In the Format | Columns dialog, click on the button for One (even if it
appears to be selected already) and make sure that it applies to "Whole
document."

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"D. Zalkin" wrote in message
...
Nice try, but I don't think that's it. I went to Format--Columns, where
it
was set to the default of 1 15" column. I was trying to change from a
previous section of 11x17 landscape paper to a letter size portait; could
it
have found an incompatibility there, and if so, how can I remove it? I
tried
to make the 1 column 6" (compatible with 8 1/2 inch paper, but it wouldn't
take it.

"Anne Troy" wrote:

When Word talks about column widths, it's usually talking about
Format--Columns columns, not table columns. You might want to make sure
you
don't have any columns set up somehow.
*******************
~Anne Troy

www.OfficeArticles.com
www.MyExpertsOnline.com


"D. Zalkin" D. wrote in message
...
When trying to do a page setup in the middle of a document, I get a
pop-up
message that 'column widths cannot be less than 0.5"'. There are
tables
in
the document, but none have column widths less than 0.5" The error
message
aborts my page setup; it not just informational.

Thank you for the response. I'm not sure if this is the answer; between Anne
Troy's answer and yours I lost patience and fell back on my standard fix for
mysterious word problems; I made a new document with all the sections set up,
and pasted my text in the affected parts. I then deleted the document I had
the problem with approximately 1 sec. before your reply came in, so I
couldn't try your fix. Sounds logical, though, so I'll rate it as a YES.

"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

In the Format | Columns dialog, click on the button for One (even if it
appears to be selected already) and make sure that it applies to "Whole
document."

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"D. Zalkin" wrote in message
...
Nice try, but I don't think that's it. I went to Format--Columns, where
it
was set to the default of 1 15" column. I was trying to change from a
previous section of 11x17 landscape paper to a letter size portait; could
it
have found an incompatibility there, and if so, how can I remove it? I
tried
to make the 1 column 6" (compatible with 8 1/2 inch paper, but it wouldn't
take it.

"Anne Troy" wrote:

When Word talks about column widths, it's usually talking about
Format--Columns columns, not table columns. You might want to make sure
you
don't have any columns set up somehow.
*******************
~Anne Troy

www.OfficeArticles.com
www.MyExpertsOnline.com


"D. Zalkin" D. wrote in message
...
When trying to do a page setup in the middle of a document, I get a
pop-up
message that 'column widths cannot be less than 0.5"'. There are
tables
in
the document, but none have column widths less than 0.5" The error
message
aborts my page setup; it not just informational.