Widening a Column to a Particular Cell's Width

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 18, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

3

When Robert double-clicks the right edge of a column header, Excel widens the column to fit the widest content of any cell in that column. Sometimes, though, that is just too wide. So, Robert wonders if there is a similar feature to double-click a cell edge and have the column widen to fit the contents of just that cell, even if there is a cell in the column with wider content.

There is no built-in double-click option to do this, but there is a way. Here's the simple steps:

  1. Select the cell that contains the text.
  2. Display the Home tab of the ribbon.
  3. In the Cells group, click the Format tool. Excel displays a drop-down list of options.
  4. Choose the AutoFit Column Width option.

The result is that the column width is set so that whatever is in the selected cell is entirely visible. If you prefer a keyboard-based approach, you can press the Alt key to trigger the hot keys for the ribbon tools, and then press H, O, I. If you prefer, you can use a legacy shortcut key sequence—again, press Alt to trigger the hot keys, and then press O, C, A. Either approach will work just fine.

If you prefer a macro-based approach, then you can use the following single-line macro:

Sub ColWidthCell()
    ActiveCell.Columns.AutoFit
End Sub

The macro can, of course, be assigned to a shortcut key or to a customization of the ribbon so that it can be easily triggered.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the ExcelTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (11302) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021.

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. ...

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What is 5 - 3?

2021-09-18 15:27:52

J. Woolley

This Tip's macro works well when ActiveCell is not a merged cell. The following VBA is more general:

Sub SetColumnWidthByCell()
    Dim rMA As Range, rCol As Range
    Dim nC As Long, nW As Double
    Set rMA = ActiveCell.MergeArea
    nC = rMA.Columns.Count
    If nC = 1 Then
        ActiveCell.Columns.AutoFit
    Else
        rMA.UnMerge
        ActiveCell.Columns.AutoFit
        nW = ActiveCell.ColumnWidth / nC
        For Each rCol In rMA.Columns
            rCol.ColumnWidth = nW
        Next rCol
        rMA.Merge
    End If
End Sub

See My Excel Toolbox: https://sites.google.com/view/MyExcelToolbox/

2021-09-18 11:20:51

Aldo Santolla

Another macro approach could be:

Sub SetColWith()
'Shortcut key set : Ctrl+Shft+W
ActiveCell.Columns.ColumnWidth = InputBox("New column width:", "Adjust Column Width")
End Sub

2021-09-18 09:20:06

Tomek

You can also add "AutoFit Column Width" to Quick Access Toolbar. Once you find it on the Home Ribbon, just right click on it and select "Add to Quick access Toolbar"

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