Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Changing Font Sizes.

Changing Font Sizes

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 16, 2023)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021


Excel specifies the size of fonts in points, a unit of measurement typically used in typesetting. A point is equal to approximately 1/72 of an inch. To change the size of a font used in a selected cell or for information selected within a cell, you use the Home tab of the ribbon. In the Font group you'll notice the Font Size tool. If you click on the arrow to the right of this tool you are presented with a drop-down list of point sizes you can specify for the current font.

To pick a point size, simply scroll through the list and choose the one you want. Click your mouse on the point size, and your text is updated. You are not limited to choosing a point size from those in the list, however. Excel allows you to specify any font size between 1 and 409 points. (This depends, of course, on the capabilities of your printer.) You can use the keyboard to enter, in the Font Size tool, any point size (or fractional point size to the nearest half point) desired. For instance, if you type 21.4, Excel increases the point size to 21.5. It is kind of fun to play around with various fractional point sizes to see how Excel modifies them.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (8071) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Changing Font Sizes.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Using ASCII and ANSI Characters

Word natively supports several types of character sets. The most common characters sets are known as ASCII and ANSI ...

Discover More

Quickly Removing a Toolbar Button

Want to get rid of a toolbar button? There's no need to drag open the menus and dialog boxes; just use the shortcut ...

Discover More

Confirming File Conversions

Open a file that isn't a Word document and Word will still try to convert it to a Word document. If you want Word to let ...

Discover More

Comprehensive VBA Guide Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the language used for writing macros in all Office programs. This complete guide shows both professionals and novices how to master VBA in order to customize the entire Office suite for their needs. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2010 today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Shrinking Cell Contents

Need to cram a bunch of text all on a single line in a cell? You can do it with one of the lesser-known settings in Excel.

Discover More

Replacing Cell Formats

Need to replace the formats applied to some cells with a different format? You can use Excel's Find and Replace tool to ...

Discover More

Ensuring Conditional Formatting and Data Validation is Copied

If you use an Excel worksheet for entering data (a quite common task, actually), then you need to be concerned with how ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 2 + 8?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.