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Every resume has a layout: a list of pages, and on each page a main column and a sidebar. This guide shows how to change the sidebar, move sections between columns and pages, show a section’s entries in several columns, and decide where pages break.

How the layout works

  • Pages. You decide which sections start on which page. If a page’s sections don’t fit, the rest runs onto an extra page; see Fitting content on a page.
  • Main and sidebar. On a two-column template, the sidebar prints as its own narrow column. On a one-column template, sidebar sections print after the main sections.
  • Print order. In Write, the list of sections shows them in the order they print: page by page, the main column first and then the sidebar. Dividers mark where each page and each sidebar starts.
Write outline with Basics, Summary, Experience, Education, Skills and Languages for fictional Alex Morgan

The Write outline opens one section at a time

Move the sidebar and change its width

On a two-column template, sidebar controls appear in Design → Layout.
Sidebar controls in Layout for a fictional guest sample resume

Set the sidebar in Layout

  • Left / Right puts the sidebar on that side, whatever the template’s usual side is.
  • Width sets the sidebar’s share of the page, from 10% to 50%.
Sidebar width in Design → Layout uses the same 10% to 50% range.

Reorder sections and move them between columns

In Write:
  • Drag a section by its handle (the dotted grip on the left) to a new place in the list. Dragging it below a Sidebar divider moves it into the sidebar; dragging it past a Page divider moves it to that page.
  • Or focus a section’s title and press ⌥ ↑ or ⌥ ↓ (Alt ↑ or Alt ↓ on Windows and Linux).
  • Or open the section’s menu in Design → Layout and select Move up or Move down.
For more on the section menu, see Managing sections.

Manage pages in Layout

Design → Layout shows every page as a box with its Main and Sidebar columns. In the mobile app, open the Page tab of Design and select Pages and sections. When content runs onto an extra page, the warning’s Add page 2 button adds a page and moves the spilling sections for you; see Fitting content on a page.
Layout category showing the fictional Design lead resume’s two planned pages

Manage pages and sidebar in Layout

Here you can:
  • Drag sections between columns and between pages.
  • Select Add page (below the last page) to add an empty page.
  • Select Delete page to remove a page. Its sections move to the first page (or to the second page, if you delete the first). You can’t delete the only page.
  • Turn on Full width to print that page in a single column. Its sidebar sections move into the main column.
Each section also has a ⋮ menu:
Pages and sections menu with Move to and page-break options

Move a section or control its page breaks

  • Move to → a page → Main or Sidebar moves the section there. New page moves it onto a page of its own at the end. Sidebar isn’t offered on full-width pages or with one-column templates.
  • Keep together and Start on new page control page breaks, described below.

Show a section’s entries in columns

Short entries, such as skills, languages or interests, can sit side by side. In Write, open the section. Under On the page, use Columns to choose 1 to 6.
Experience panel with its two entries and On the page controls for heading, icon, columns and page breaks

Section controls live under On the page

The Skills section has two extra choices:
  • One line per skill puts each skill’s name, level and keywords on one row.
  • Keywords shows each skill’s keywords Inline (on one line) or as a Bulleted list.

Control page breaks

Two switches decide how a section behaves at the end of a page. You find them under On the page in Write and in the section’s ⋮ menu in Layout; both places change the same setting.
Keeping a section together can leave a large gap at the bottom of the previous page. If that happens, move a shorter section into the gap or turn the switch off.