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Microsoft Office Excel XP | Resize Column

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Learn step-by-step how to resize a column in Microsoft Office Excel XP.

Sometimes, the things you put into cells just won't fit. This is when you would resize your columns. You can make your columns wider or narrower to fit the content of your cells.

Resize Column Width

You may want to change the width of a column if it's not wide enough to display values fully.

Normally you get a series of pound signs like this ####### if your cell entry is too long, and who wants to look at that?

Microsoft Office Excel: Column width exmple 1 Example of a too narrow column


Or you may simply want to space out the cells horizontally.

Before changing the width, you can select a number of columns so that the selected columns will all have the same width.

To change the column width, use any of the follow methods:

1. Select the column whose width you want to change.
   
2. Double-click on the right border of a column heading to automatically set the column width to the widest entry in the column.
   
  Microsoft Office Exce: Resize Column Width 1 Double-click column heading
   
  OR 
   
2.  Drag the right border of the column heading with the mouse until the column is the desired width.
   
  Microsoft Office Excel: Resize Column width by dragging Drag column heading
   
  OR
   
2. Choose Format Column Width from the menu bar.
   
  Microsoft Office Excel: Column Width dialog box Column Width dialog box
   
  Enter a value in the Column Width dialog box and click OK.
   
  OR
   
2.  Choose Format Column AutoFit Selection from the menu bar.

This adjusts the width of the selected column(s) so that the widest entry in the column fits.

To change the default width of all columns, use the Format ► Column ► Standard Width command.

This displays a dialog box into which you enter the new default column width.

All columns that haven't been previously adjusted take on the new column width.
 
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