Create Nested Columns (and Columns in Toggles) in Notion

Notion’s nested multi-column layouts aren’t blocked by the app so much as by a workflow limitation: you can’t directly drag blocks into place to create columns inside certain “special” containers. The fix is to build the columns first in a normal page, then convert that page into a different block type—so the multi-column structure carries over intact. That same conversion trick then works inside Toggle blocks, Template blocks, and Synced blocks, enabling complex layouts that many people assume are impossible.

The core technique starts with creating a standalone page and placing the content you want inside it. Once the content sits on that page, Notion allows standard multi-column creation by dragging blocks side-by-side. After arranging the layout, the next step is the key: right-click (or use the six-block icon) and “turn into” a different block type. Converting the page into something like a heading or a to-do list effectively “wraps” the existing multi-column layout under the new block. The heading/to-do title becomes the wrapper’s label, and the rest of the content remains in its column structure. As long as the converted page is already positioned under an existing column on the parent page, the nested columns persist.

That principle scales to the containers people struggle with. To get columns inside a Toggle block, create the Toggle (or convert the page into a Toggle), then apply the same “turn into” step so the page’s multi-column layout becomes the Toggle’s internal content. For Synced blocks, the workflow is analogous: convert the page into a Synced block first, then use the “turn into” conversion to swap the page into a block type that preserves the column separation. Template blocks work the same way, too—build the multi-column layout on a page, convert it into a block type that can live inside the template, and then duplicate the template as many times as needed while keeping the nested columns.

Two practical gotchas come up. First, copy/paste breaks multi-column layouts: pasting multi-column content collapses it into a single column. The workaround is planning ahead—copy the original page that still has the multi-column structure before converting it into nested form, then reuse that source when needed. Second, converting the layout into a wrapper block (like a Text block) keeps the column group nested under that wrapper. That means the whole structure can be moved, edited, and duplicated as a unit—useful for storing alternate versions inside a Toggle for later.

Finally, inline databases have their own column frustration: they can’t be dragged into side-by-side positions like other blocks. The workaround is to create the multi-column layout using a different block type first (for example, headings), then drag the inline databases into the appropriate column slots underneath. After the databases are placed, the temporary blocks can be deleted without destroying the column layout. Together, these steps unlock nested columns across Toggle, Template, Synced, and inline database scenarios—without relying on Notion features that appear to be missing.