Changing Column Widths

A common problem as you create and use spreadsheets is needing to change columns widths--sometimes making the column wider and sometimes narrower. If text in a cell is wider than the column and there is information in the adjacent cell to its right, then the text information is truncated.

There are multiple ways to change a column's width:

  1. Click on the column letter in the frame at the top of the column. For example, column A.

    This selects the entire column. Now click on Format on the menu bar, then Column, then AutoFit Selection. AutoFit sizes the column to the widest entry; sometimes this widens the column and sometimes it narrows the column. You can select multiple columns and then use AutoFit to adjust several columns at once.

  2. Another way to adjust a column's width is to place your mouse cursor on the right edge of a column border, in the frame area. The mouse cursor will become a double-arrow. Click and drag with the double-arrow until the column is the width you want.

  3. Yet a third quick way to autofit the column is to put the mouse cursor on the right edge of a column in the frame area, so it becomes a double-arrow. Then double-click.

Exercise 1
Open the FUNDRAS.XLS file created in the first lesson. Use File, Save As and save the file under a new name of PRACTICE.XLS (so you have a clean version of FUNDRAS.XLS later). Position your cursor on cell A2, double-click on the cell and edit the name so you have a first and last name in each cell. Work your way down the column, editing each name, so the names are:
Mary Anderson
Sam Jones
Bill Wrightstown
Susey Olvidad
Mandy Dorson
Robert Hinz

You can see right away that column A is not wide enough. You cannot read the complete names. Make B4 the active cell (where the number 19 is) and press the [DELETE] key to erase the number. When the cell or cells next to a wide text entry are empty, Excel will often display the complete cell's contents. But if there is information in a cell adjacent to a wide text entry, the text display is truncated. Type the number 19 again in cell B4.

Click on the A in the frame area to select the entire column. Click on Format on the menu bar, then Column, then AutoFit Selection to widen column A.

Use the other two techniques to narrow B, C, D, and E.

After you make column B narrower, change at least one number in column B to 100000.

This large number in a narrow column illustrates how Excel deals with a column not large enough for a value--Excel displays pound symbols in the cell (#####). This happens most often on cells with formulas or functions, but can also happen on cells with dates, since they are also values. If pound symbols appear in a cell, simply widen a column so that the entire number will display.

Check your work.

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