Mastering Excel: A Comprehensive Guide to Adjusting Cell Size

Microsoft Excel is a powerful spreadsheet program that’s used by professionals and individuals alike. One of the fundamental aspects of working effectively in Excel is understanding how to adjust cell sizes. Properly sized cells not only enhance the readability of your data but also contribute to the overall presentation and professionalism of your spreadsheets. Whether you’re dealing with overflowing text, truncated numbers, or simply want to create a visually appealing layout, mastering cell size adjustment is essential. This comprehensive guide will walk you through all the different methods to adjust cell size in Excel, providing detailed steps and instructions.

Understanding the Basics: Cell Size in Excel

Before diving into the methods, let’s grasp some fundamental concepts about cell sizes in Excel:

• Row Height: Refers to the vertical dimension of a cell. It determines how much space is available from top to bottom within the cell.
• Column Width: Refers to the horizontal dimension of a cell. It determines how much space is available from left to right within the cell.
• Default Sizes: Excel has default row heights and column widths. These default sizes are generally sufficient for basic text and numbers. However, as your data becomes more complex, you’ll need to customize them.
• Units of Measurement: Row height is typically measured in points, while column width can be measured in characters (based on the width of the default font) or points.

Methods to Adjust Cell Size in Excel

Excel offers various ways to adjust cell sizes. Let’s explore each method step-by-step:

Method 1: Using the Mouse (Drag and Drop)

This is the most intuitive and frequently used method. It allows you to visually adjust cell sizes to your preference.

Adjusting Row Height with the Mouse:

1. Position the Mouse: Move your mouse pointer to the row heading area (the area on the left with row numbers). Place the cursor on the bottom border of the row you want to adjust. The cursor will change to a double-headed arrow with horizontal lines.
2. Drag the Border: Click and hold the left mouse button while the cursor is in double headed arrow mode and drag the row border up to decrease the height or down to increase the height.
3. Release the Mouse: Once you reach the desired row height, release the mouse button. The row height will now be adjusted.
4. Adjusting Multiple Rows: Select the rows you want to change by dragging the mouse over the row headings. Then, adjust the height of any one of the selected rows, and all selected rows will change to the same height.

Adjusting Column Width with the Mouse:

1. Position the Mouse: Move your mouse pointer to the column heading area (the area on top with column letters). Place the cursor on the right border of the column you want to adjust. The cursor will change to a double-headed arrow with vertical lines.
2. Drag the Border: Click and hold the left mouse button while the cursor is in double headed arrow mode and drag the column border left to decrease the width or right to increase the width.
3. Release the Mouse: Once you reach the desired column width, release the mouse button. The column width will now be adjusted.
4. Adjusting Multiple Columns: Select the columns you want to change by dragging the mouse over the column headings. Then, adjust the width of any one of the selected columns, and all selected columns will change to the same width.

Pros of Drag and Drop:

• Visual Adjustment: You can see the changes immediately as you drag the borders.
• Intuitive and Quick: It’s easy to grasp and perform, making it suitable for quick adjustments.

Cons of Drag and Drop:

• Less Precision: It’s difficult to achieve exact, uniform sizes, especially when you need precise row heights or column widths across multiple cells.
• Tedious for Multiple Adjustments: Can be cumbersome when you need to adjust many rows or columns to very specific dimensions.

Method 2: Using the Format Menu (Specific Values)

This method provides greater precision and allows you to set exact values for row height and column width.

Adjusting Row Height with the Format Menu:

1. Select Rows: Select the rows you want to change. You can select multiple rows by clicking and dragging on the row numbers, or click on the row number for single row selection.
2. Access the Format Menu: Go to the ‘Home’ tab on the Excel ribbon. Locate the ‘Cells’ group and click the ‘Format’ button (look for an icon with the word “Format”).
3. Select Row Height: In the dropdown menu, click ‘Row Height’.
4. Enter Value: In the ‘Row Height’ dialog box, enter the desired row height value in points. Then click ‘OK’.
5. Adjusting Multiple Rows: As with manual adjustment, if multiple rows are selected, the same height will be applied to all selected rows.

Adjusting Column Width with the Format Menu:

1. Select Columns: Select the column(s) you want to change by clicking and dragging on the column letters or clicking on the column letter for single column selection.
2. Access the Format Menu: Go to the ‘Home’ tab on the Excel ribbon. Locate the ‘Cells’ group and click the ‘Format’ button.
3. Select Column Width: In the dropdown menu, click ‘Column Width’.
4. Enter Value: In the ‘Column Width’ dialog box, enter the desired column width value in characters or points. Then, click ‘OK’.
5. Adjusting Multiple Columns: As with manual adjustment, if multiple columns are selected, the same width will be applied to all selected columns.

Pros of Format Menu:

• Precision: Allows you to specify exact values for row height and column width.
• Uniformity: Ideal for ensuring consistent cell sizes across your worksheet.

Cons of Format Menu:

• Less Visual: You cannot see the changes directly as you adjust them, needing you to click ‘OK’ to see the results.
• Slightly More Time Consuming: May be slower than drag-and-drop for making very fast and small adjustments.

Method 3: Using AutoFit (Adjust to Content)

The AutoFit feature is incredibly handy for quickly adjusting cells to fit their content automatically. It’s especially useful when you have varying lengths of text or data in your cells.

AutoFit Row Height:

1. Select Rows: Select the row(s) you want to adjust using row numbers or click on the row for single row selection.
2. Access the Format Menu: Go to the ‘Home’ tab on the Excel ribbon. Locate the ‘Cells’ group and click the ‘Format’ button.
3. Select AutoFit Row Height: In the dropdown menu, click ‘AutoFit Row Height’.
4. Adjusting Multiple Rows: If multiple rows are selected, each selected row will adjust to the height of its tallest content

AutoFit Column Width:

1. Select Columns: Select the column(s) you want to adjust using column letters or click on the column for single column selection.
2. Access the Format Menu: Go to the ‘Home’ tab on the Excel ribbon. Locate the ‘Cells’ group and click the ‘Format’ button.
3. Select AutoFit Column Width: In the dropdown menu, click ‘AutoFit Column Width’.
4. Adjusting Multiple Columns: If multiple columns are selected, each selected column will adjust to the width of its widest content
5. Double click method: If you position your mouse cursor between column letters, your mouse icon will turn into double headed arrow with vertical lines. When that cursor appears, if you double click using the left mouse button, the column width will auto adjust based on the content of that column

Pros of AutoFit:

• Efficiency: Quick and easy to automatically adjust row heights and column widths.
• Optimal Fit: Ensures that all content within the cell is completely visible.
• Dynamic: Cell sizes will automatically update if you add or remove content.

Cons of AutoFit:

• Lack of Uniformity: Can lead to inconsistent cell sizes if the content in different cells varies significantly.
• May Increase Width unnecessarily: If a single cell in a column contains a very long text, the entire column can become much wider than necessary.

Method 4: Using Keyboard Shortcuts

For power users, keyboard shortcuts can be a significant time-saver. While there aren’t direct shortcuts to resize using specific values, there are shortcuts that are helpful when resizing with mouse.

• Select Entire Column: Press ‘Ctrl + Spacebar’ to select the column containing the active cell.
• Select Entire Row: Press ‘Shift + Spacebar’ to select the row containing the active cell.
• Select all cells: Press ‘Ctrl + A’ to select all cells in the excel sheet or current region.

These shortcuts help in selecting the right elements before using any of the above methods to adjust the height and width.

Method 5: Working with Point Sized Column Width

Excel uses a default width that is based on the average width of characters in default font. However, it is also possible to specify column width based on points (same unit that is used for row height). In method 2 when you input the column width, excel uses the default width for measuring width. However, it is possible to switch to point sized width by using this method:

1. Select Columns: Select the column(s) you want to change by clicking and dragging on the column letters or clicking on the column letter for single column selection.
2. Access the Format Menu: Go to the ‘Home’ tab on the Excel ribbon. Locate the ‘Cells’ group and click the ‘Format’ button.
3. Select Column Width: In the dropdown menu, click ‘Column Width’.
4. Type in the Width in points: Now in the pop up window type the width you want to give but this time add `pt` next to the number. Example: `30pt`. If you just write the number and click `Ok`, Excel will consider it to be the default width.
5. Click Ok: Press ok and the width will be assigned in points. If multiple columns were selected, the width in points will be applied to all the selected columns.

Best Practices for Adjusting Cell Sizes

To ensure that your Excel spreadsheets are both functional and visually appealing, consider these best practices:

• Consistency: Use consistent row heights and column widths throughout your spreadsheet. This creates a professional and organized appearance.
• Readability: Ensure that all text and numbers are fully visible and easy to read. Use AutoFit to prevent text from being cut off.
• Minimize Empty Space: Avoid unnecessarily large cell sizes. Adjust them to comfortably fit the content without excessive padding.
• Use Point Size when exact sizing is required: If exact size is needed across multiple sheets, use points for both row height and column width instead of default character based width.
• Consider Wrapping Text: If you have long text in a cell, use the ‘Wrap Text’ feature (located in the ‘Alignment’ group of the ‘Home’ tab) to display it within the cell, rather than stretching the cell size too much.
• Use Merge and Center: Use ‘Merge & Center’ (located in the ‘Alignment’ group of the ‘Home’ tab) when you need a title spanning across multiple cells, it can reduce the need to resize a single column or row and also prevent accidental resizing of other columns and rows.
• Testing and Iterating: After adjusting cell sizes, review your spreadsheet on a different monitor with different resolution to make sure everything is displaying as intended. Fine-tune where necessary.

Common Issues and Troubleshooting

Here are some common issues you might encounter and how to resolve them:

• Text is Still Truncated After AutoFit: Check if your cell contains a lot of white space before the text. Remove extra spaces, and also check if the font is very big and try reducing the font size or try using a different font.
• Inconsistent Column Widths After Dragging: Select all the columns you want to have same width. Use format menu and input the width to make sure width is uniform. Or use the point based method to specify exact width.
• Row Height Changes Unexpectedly: Make sure that the row has no hidden objects which require extra height for display. Also, avoid applying manual row height changes when an Autofilter is active in a range.
• Locked Cells prevent from resizing: If cells are locked, make sure to unlock them before attempting to resize them.

Conclusion

Adjusting cell sizes in Excel is a fundamental skill that significantly impacts the clarity and presentation of your work. By mastering the different methods—drag and drop, format menu, and AutoFit—you can tailor your spreadsheets to your specific needs, ensure all data is visible, and make your documents look professional and easy to understand. Remember to use these methods strategically based on your requirements. Use drag and drop for quick, less precise adjustment. Use format menu to adjust cell with precise dimensions. Use Autofit when you want to make sure that content is properly displayed. By following the best practices and troubleshooting tips outlined in this guide, you’ll become proficient at controlling cell sizes and thus enhancing your efficiency in Excel. Happy Spreading!