Excel Tutorial: Changing Row Heights and Column Widths in Excel

You can change row heights and column widths in Excel. By default, column widths and row heights are set to predefined measurements. If the data in a worksheet is larger than the column width or row height allows, Excel will alert you depending on the data type. If text is longer than the column width, Excel truncates the text if the cell to the immediate right contains data. Otherwise, the text continues to be displayed. If a numeric entry is longer than the current column width, Excel displays a series of number signs (########) in the cell. Row heights are set to adjust automatically when you change the size of your data.

Change the column width in Excel using specific measurements

Follow these steps show to change the width of a column in Excel:

  1. Click in cell L25.
  2. From the Cells group on the Home tab, choose Format.
  3. Select Column Width from the resulting menu to display the Column Width dialog box.

    Change the width of a column by typing an amount in the Column Width dialog box.
  4. Type 12 In the Column Width text box, and then click OK.

Changing the column width in excel visually

You can also change the width of columns in Excel using a mouse or trackpad if desired by following these steps:

  1. Click the border separating columns A and B.
  2. Click and drag the mouse to the right.
  3. Release when column A displays the label Contact Number in its entirety.

    Change the width of a column by clicking and dragging the column border.

Changing the column width in Excel automatically

You can quickly adjust the column width to accommodate the longest entry.

  1. Select any column from the worksheet.
  2. From the Cells group on the Home tab, choose Format.
  3. Select AutoFit Column Width to set that column to auto-fit the width depending on the contents.

You can also double-click the border between the column headings to adjust the column width to the widest entry.

Changing the row height in excel

The next set of steps show an example of how to change the height of a row in Excel:

  1. Click the border separating rows 5 and 6.
  2. Click and drag the mouse down.
  3. Release when the row is the height you desire.

Excel automatically adjusts the height of a row when you change the size of the data within the row.

Changing the row height automatically in Excel

You can quickly adjust the row height to accommodate the tallest entry automatically by following these steps:

  1. Select row 5 from the worksheet.
  2. Choose Format from the Cells group of the Home tab.
  3. Select AutoFit Row Height.

Double-click the border between the row headings to automatically adjust the height of a row.