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If you want to be an Excel whiz, you have to know how to adjust the width of your columns and the heights of your rows. Why? Because often in the course of assigning different formatting (such as applying a new font or adding boldface) to certain cell ranges, you may find that data entries that previously fit within the original widths of their column no longer do and that the rows that they occupy seem to have changed height all on their own.
In a blank worksheet, all the columns and rows are the same standard width and height. All columns begin life as 8.43 characters wide (or 64 pixels) and all rows as 12.75 characters high (or 17 pixels). As you build your spreadsheet, you end up with all sorts of data entries that can't fit within these default settings. This is especially true as you start adding formatting to their cells to enhance and clarify their contents.
Most of the time, you don't need to be concerned with the heights of the rows in your worksheet because Excel automatically adjusts them up or down to accommodate the largest font size used in a cell in the row and the number of text lines (in some cells, you may wrap their text on several lines). Instead, you'll spend a lot more time adjusting the column widths to suit the entries for the formatting that you assign to them.
 | Remember what happens when you put a text entry in a cell whose current width isn't long enough to accommodate all its characters. If the cells in columns to the right are empty, Excel lets the display of the extra characters spill over into the empty cells. If these cells are already occupied, however, Excel cuts off the display of the extra characters until you widen the column sufficiently. Likewise, remember that if you add formatting to a number so that its value and formatting can't both be displayed in the cell, those nasty overflow indicators appear in the cell as a string of hash marks (#####) until you widen the column adequately. |
(Auto)Fitting the column to its contents
The easiest way to adjust the width of a column to suit its longest entry is to use the AutoFit feature. AutoFit determines the best fit for the column or columns selected at that time, given their longest entries.
- To use AutoFit on a single column, position the mouse pointer on the right edge of that column in the column header. When the pointer changes to a double-headed arrow, double-click the mouse.
- To use AutoFit on multiple columns at one time, select the columns by dragging through them in the column header or by Ctrl+clicking the column letters, and then double-click the right edge of one of the selected columns when the pointer changes to a double-headed arrow.
These AutoFit techniques work well for adjusting all columns except for those that contain really long headings (such as the spreadsheet title that often spills over several blank columns in row 1), in which case, AutoFit makes the columns far too wide for the bulk of the cell entries.
 | For those situations, use the AutoFit Selection command, which adjusts the column width to suit only the entries in the cells of the column that you have selected. This way, you can select all the cells except for any really long ones in the column that purposely spill over to empty cells on the right and then have Excel adjust the width to suit all but them. After you've selected the cells in the column that you want to apply the new width to, choose Format --> Column --> AutoFit Selection on the menu bar. |
Adjusting columns the old-fashioned way
AutoFit is nothing if not quick and easy. The only problem with AutoFit is that it's totally based on the width of the longest entry currently in that column. If you need more precision in adjusting your column widths, you have to adjust the columns manually. You can do it either by dragging the borders with the mouse or by entering new values in the Column Width dialog box.
| To manually adjust a column width with the mouse, drag the right edge of that column onto the Column header to the left (to narrow) or to the right (to widen) as required. As you drag the column border, a ToolTip appears above the mouse pointer, indicating the current width in both characters and pixels. When you have the column adjusted to the desired width, release the mouse button to set it. |
To adjust a column width in the Column Width dialog box, position the cell pointer in any one of the cells in the column that you want to adjust and then choose Format --> Column Width on the menu bar to open the Column Width dialog box. Here, you enter the new width (in the number of characters between 0 and 255) in the Column Width text box before clicking OK.
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