Re: Can't resize Excel spreadsheet in response to Charles Swigart. There is an easier solution than changing screen resolution: mouse over the top of the title bar of the document until the vertical arrow shows up and then you can drag down the top of the document, shrinking it from the top.
/ Wednesday, October 05 2016 / Published in Latest, Microsoft, Office 2013, Office 2016, Office 365, Word 2013, Word 2016
Adjust Row Height and Column Width in Word Tables: Overview
You can adjust row height and column width in Word tables using the mouse. To do this, place your mouse pointer over the border of the column or row to adjust. When you are in the correct place, the mouse pointer turns into a double-line with an intersecting arrow. At that point, you then click and drag to adjust the column width or row height.
In addition to manual adjustments you make with your mouse, you can also use the commands in the “Cell Size” button group in the “Layout” tab of the “Table Tools” contextual tab in the Ribbon to adjust row height and column width in Word tables. To do this, select the cells whose width or height you wish to adjust. Then use the “Height:” and “Width:” spinner boxes to set the height and the width of the selected cells.
You can also use the “AutoFit” button to apply automatic adjustments to selected cells. To do this, select the cells that you want to automatically adjust. Then click the “Layout” tab of the “Table Tools” contextual tab in the Ribbon. Then click the “AutoFit” button in the “Cell Size” button group. From the drop-down menu, select the method of adjustment to apply. You can select “AutoFit Contents” to resize the cells to fit their content. You can select “AutoFit Window” to stretch the table across the page to fit the window. Finally, you can select “Fixed Column Width” to set the widths of the columns by hand using the techniques you just learned.
Adjust Row Height and Column Width in Word Tables- Tutorial: A picture of a table in Word being adjusted using the “AutoFit” button in the “Layout” tab of the “Table Tools” contextual tab in the Ribbon of Word 2016.
Another way to adjust row height and column width in Word tables is to equally distribute the spacing allocated to a selection of rows or columns. For example, if you had three adjacent columns of unequal sizes in a table, you could select them and then resize them so that each one was the same width over the selected area. To do this, select the columns or rows to evenly distribute. Then click either the “Distribute Rows” or the “Distribute Columns” button in the “Cell Size” button group on the “Layout” tab of the “Table Tools” contextual tab in the Ribbon. Doing this then distributes the selected columns or rows equally over the selected area.
Adjust Row Height and Column Width in Word Tables: Instructions
- To adjust row height and column width in Word tables using the mouse, place your mouse pointer over the border of the column or row to adjust.
- When in the correct place, the mouse pointer turns into a double-line with an intersecting arrow.
- At that point, you then click and drag to adjust the column width or row height.
- To adjust row height and column width in Word tables using the Ribbon, select the table cells to adjust.
- Click the “Layout” tab of the “Table Tools” contextual tab in the Ribbon.
- Use the “Height:” and “Width:” spinner boxes in the “Cell Size” group to set the cells’ height and width.
- To automatically fit row height and column width in Word tables to their content, select the cells whose size you want to automatically adjust.
- Click the “Layout” tab of the “Table Tools” contextual tab in the Ribbon.
- Click the “AutoFit” button in the “Cell Size” button group.
- Then select the method of adjustment to apply from the drop-down menu.
- You can select “AutoFit Contents” to resize the cells to fit their content.
- To stretch the table across the page to fit the window, select “AutoFit Window.”
- You can select “Fixed Column Width” to manually set column widths.
- To equally distribute column and row spacing, select the columns or rows to evenly distribute.
- Then click the “Layout” tab of the “Table Tools” contextual tab in the Ribbon.
- Then click either the “Distribute Rows” or the “Distribute Columns” button in the “Cell Size” button group.
- Doing that then distributes the selected columns or rows equally over the selected area.
Adjust Row Height and Column Width in Word Tables: Video Lesson
You can watch the following video lesson, titled “Adjusting Cell Size,” to see the different methods you can use to adjust row height and column width in Word tables. This video is from our complete Word training, titled “Mastering Word Made Easy v.2016-2013.”
What you can read next
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Making use of Microsoft Word’s instant table creation and insertion tool can save a lot of setup time, as well as give you a quick way to corral information in your Word documents, but the tool’s default settings may not be what you need. Word doesn’t require you to use its stretched-across-the-page table size; try a variety of ways to fix and tweak table size to your requirements.
1.
Start Microsoft Word. Click the “File” tab. Click “Open.”
2.
Browse to the DOC or DOCX file with the table to fix and double-click the file name. Scroll to the page with the table. If you can’t see the entire table, adjust the view slider at the bottom right of the Word workspace.
3.
Right-click anywhere within a cell of the table. Click “Table Properties.” The Table Properties window appears with the Table tab already selected. Check the “Preferred Width” box to enable the text box beside it. Type a number for the width of the table — by default, Word adds in a table that stretches across the entire width of the page — and click “OK.” Word adjusts the cell width evenly across the columns in the table.
4.
Add length to the table by inserting additional rows. Right-click any cell in the table. Click “Insert.” Choose “Insert Rows Above” to add a row above the one you’re on or “Insert Rows Below” to insert a row below the one you’re on. You can also add columns this way, though it won’t affect the table size itself.
5.
Hover the cursor over the left or right border of the table. You’ll see the cursor change to a two-headed arrow. Click the border and drag to the left or right, which increases or decreases the table width. This process also works on the table’s bottom border to increase the length of the table, but does not work on the top border.
6.
Eliminate entire rows from the table, which will make it smaller, by highlighting the row(s). Right-click anywhere on the highlighted area and click “Delete Cells.” Click the “Delete Entire Row” radio button and click “OK.” You can also change the table size by highlighting a column, right-clicking and selecting “Delete Columns.”
7.
Widen or shrink a cell’s spacing by clicking the line that separates it from the next cell, either above/below or left/right. Drag that line up or down or to the left or right, changing the size of that part of the table.
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About the Author
Fionia LeChat is a technical writer whose major skill sets include the MS Office Suite (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Publisher), Photoshop, Paint, desktop publishing, design and graphics. LeChat has a Master of Science in technical writing, a Master of Arts in public relations and communications and a Bachelor of Arts in writing/English.
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- Hemera Technologies/Photos.com/Getty Images
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LeChat, Filonia. 'How to Fix the Size of a Table in Word.' Small Business - Chron.com, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/fix-size-table-word-29416.html. Accessed 26 December 2019.
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