How To Stop Microsoft Office Word From Showing Two Pages Side-By-Side

If you are reading this, you probably are running Microsoft Office Word program on a PC with a high-resolution widescreen monitor.

On a PC with a high-resolution widescreen monitor, the Word program automatically shows multiple pages of a document side-by-side at the same time. For instance, on my 24” 4k resolution monitor, Word displays two pages side-by-side by default.

Needless to say, that this happens only when the document consists of more than a page.

Although this is a nice feature to have as you can simultaneously view two pages side-by-side, many users find it a distraction.

Most users, including me, would like to see just one page of a document at a time, especially while composing or editing a document. Having only one page on the screen at a time helps you focus better. Besides that, many users switch to the Focus mode in Word program while editing, which also displays two pages side-by-side by default.

Luckily, Microsoft Word offers an easy way to switch back from the multiple pages side-by-side view to a single page view with the click of a mouse button. Here is how to do that.

Method 1 of 2

Turn off the side-by-side pages mode

Step 1: When the Word program displays two pages in side-by-side mode, click on the View tab and then click on the Vertical option to quickly switch back to the default single-page mode.

Note that if you are using the Word in Focus mode, please move the mouse cursor to the top edge of the screen to see the ribbon, including menu names.

The best part is that Microsoft Word will remember this setting for all documents. This means, from here on, Word will always open documents in single-page mode only.

Method 2 of 2

Change zoom settings to see one page at a time

You can change the current zoom setting to 130% or 150% to get out of the side-by-side mode. However, note that, you cannot change the zoom setting when you are viewing a document in side-by-side mode. You need to switch back to the single-page viewing mode and then move the zoom slider at the bottom right of the Word window to change the zoom settings.

When you zoom in, the text size of the document increases. So, you might want to change the text size under the home tab when you set the zoom to 130% or 150%.

Our how to check Microsoft Office 2019 or Office 365 activation status guide might also interest you.