Modifying Column Widths

When you first enter data in your workbook, Excel automatically sets the widths of the columns. As you type data into multiple columns, you may find that Excel does not display all the text in a cell. You can change the widths of columns in your workbook so that all your information is displayed.



To modify column widths:

  1. Select the column or columns you want to change.
  2. Drag the boundary until the column is the width you want.


  • To change all the columns in your worksheet to the same width, point to Column on the Format menu, then click Standard Width...—or click the Select All button (the gray box above Row 1 and to the left of Column A) and then drag the boundary.
  • To make the column automatically fit the contents of the selected cell, double-click the boundary to the right of the column (or select AutoFit Selection from Column on the Format menu).

To change the width of a column, you can also point to Column on the Format menu and select Width…. Enter the exact width of the column and click OK.