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Customising Columns in Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel offers a number of different ways of changing the width of columns and the height of rows. The width of columns is expressed in characters. By default, each column has a width of just over eight characters. This means, for example, if you’re using the spreadsheets primarily for numerical data, you can enter eight digits in each column using the default width.
If you want to change the default width, it makes sense to do so before you start entering data into your worksheet. For example, if you know that you’ll be making fairly short entries in each column, you might want to reduce the default width. To change the default width, look for the Cells section of the Home Tab of the Excel Ribbon. Click on the Format drop-down menu and choose Default Width. In the dialogue box which appears, you will see Excel’s standard column width of about 8 characters. Simply enter a new figure and click OK.
Providing you haven’t changed a column width using any other technique, you can change the default width at any time and any cells that have been left at the default width will automatically change to reflect the new setting.
The second method of changing column widths is to use Excel’s AutoFit feature. This technique automatically adjusts the width of a column to ensure that the contents of the selected cells are completely visible. To AutoFit a range columns, highlight the cells that you want Excel to take into account or simply highlight the entire column. Next, position the cursor on the right hand edge of the column and, when the cursor changes to a double arrow, double-click.
To AutoFit data in a range of columns, you can either select a range of data across several columns or highlight several entire columns. With your selection in place, choose Format then AutoFit Column Width in the Cells group of the Home Tab on the Excel Ribbon.
When using the AutoFit feature, it’s inevitable that you’ll end up with columns that have different widths. If you would like a range of columns to have exactly the same width then simply select the range and choose Format then Column Widths and enter a global width.
Excel also allows you to interactively adjust column widths. To do this, place the cursor on the right hand edge of the column. When the cursor becomes a double arrow, click, hold and drag. As you are dragging, the width of the column is displayed both in characters and in pixels. This same technique can also be used either to adjust the width of a single column or a range of columns.
The author is a trainer and developer with Macresource Computer Solutions, a UK IT training company offering Microsoft Excel 2007 training courses in London and throughout the UK.
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