There’s no denying that a well formatted spreadsheet looks nicer and is easier to read.
In the majority of cases, the font size is uniform through the spreadsheet, so it is rare that cell height needs to be adjusted.
Cell width however, varies according to the amount of text each cell has to fit, and this is what mainly differs from row to row within the same column, resulting in fields with contrasting lengths in text.
It is therefore quite common to resize columns several times during the life-cycle of the spreadsheet.
Obviously, it’s not always possible to know exactly how much space to allocate from the start, and so Excel makes it easy to change row and column sizes, be it individual rows or columns, ranges of rows or columns, or all rows and columns in a sheet.
The following screenshot shows a typical sheet with several columns containing varying types of data, including phone numbers, postal codes, and email addresses.
Judging by the fact that the columns are already of varying width, we can assume that at some point, the column widths in this sheet had been adjusted (when you create a new sheet, all cells are initially set to a default, uniform width and height).
However, with more information having been added, the column widths are now in need further adjusting.
As it stands, looking down the sheet, we see that most cells have their contents clipped so that they fit within the constraints of their respective cell width, making it difficult to read, and perhaps more importantly, hiding information.
Setting the Row Height of All Cells
We’ll start by having a look at how to make all cells in the sheet the same size, and to do this we need to first select all cells in the sheet.
To select all the cells in the sheet, left mouse click the Select All button located in the top left corner of the sheet.
Or, from the keyboard, press Ctrl-A.
To set the height of all the cells (as well as to set the width of all cells), there are a few different methods available, all using the mouse, and we’ll be looking at these in turn.
Setting the Row Height of All Cells with Context Menu
Begin by clicking on the Select All button to select all cells in the sheet.
With this first method, right mouse click in the left hand grid on one of the row numbers to bring up the context menu, and choose Row Height…
This will open a small dialog box.
Enter a new row height value and click on the OK button. All rows will now have the new height.
Setting the Row Height of All Cells by Double Clicking Row Resize Cursor
The next method allows Excel to choose the most appropriate height, based on the font size of the content in all cells.
In the left hand grid, move the mouse pointer over a boundary between two rows, until it turns into the Row Resize cursor 
, and double click with the mouse.
The next two methods are both available from the Home tab, Cell group’s Format > Cell Size dropdown menu, and achieve the same results as the two methods discussed above.
Setting the Row Height of All Cells with Format > Row Height
Selecting the Home tab , Cell group’s Format > Cell Size > Row Height option, opens the small dialog box where you can enter a new row height.
Then click the OK button.
Setting the Row Height of All Cells with Format > AutoFit Row Height
Go to the Home tab, Cell group’s Format menu and select the Cell Size > Row Height option.
This is exactly the same as double clicking the Row Resize cursor on a boundary between two rows.
Excel calculates a best fit height, based on the font size of all the cells.
Setting the Row Height of All Cells, Drag Row Resize Cursor
The final method again involves hovering the mouse pointer over the boundary between two rows until it turns into the Row Resize cursor.
But this time, instead of double clicking, click and hold down the left mouse button, then drag the mouse up or down to adjust the size of the chosen row’s height.
When you release the left mouse button, all rows will inherit the same height as that of the adjusted row.
Setting the Column Width of All Cells
Setting the column width of all cells, follows exactly the same procedures as for setting the row cell height.
Setting the Column Width of All Cells with Context Menu
After selecting all cells in the sheet, right mouse click in the top of the sheet grid on one of the column letters to bring up the context menu, and choose Column Width…
This will open a small dialog box.
Enter a new column width and click the OK button.
All columns will now have that width.
While setting the same height for all cells works well for rows, it does not always
Setting the Column Width of All Cells by Double Clicking Column Resize Cursor
Just as when setting the row height, this method allows Excel to choose the most appropriate width based on the content of all cells in each column.
The difference here is that there is usually a greater variance in the width of columns than there is in the height of rows.
Although not always the case, generally, the font size in a sheet (which will also dictate the cell height), is uniform throughout the sheet.
Cell content on the other hand, varies from column to column with text of differing lengths, excepting content that is statistical or numerical data which tends to have a more constant number of characters.
In any case, in the top grid, move the mouse pointer over a boundary between two columns, until it turns into the Column Resize cursor 
, and double mouse click.
Every column will now have its own distinct width, based on the cell with the maximum content width for each column.
This is probably the quickest method of getting a nicely formatted sheet, where all column content is clearly visible.
Setting the Column Width of All Cells with Format > Width
In the Home tab, go to the Cell group’s Format > Cell Size > Width menu option to bring up the small dialog box.
Enter a value and click the OK button to set the width of all cells.
Setting the Column Width of All Cells with Format > AutoFit Column Width
From the Cell group Format menu, choose Cell Size > AutoFit Column Width to have Excel automatically set the width of each column.
Setting the Row Height of All Cells, Drag Row Resize Cursor
The final method involves hovering the mouse pointer over the boundary between two columns until it turns into the Column Resize cursor .
Then, click and hold down the left mouse button while dragging the mouse left or right to adjust the chosen column’s width.
Release the left mouse button and all columns will now inherit to the same width as that of the chosen column.
Setting the Height of One or a Range of Rows
While all of the preceding methods have dealt with how to set the height or width of all cells in a sheet, that may not always be what is required. In many cases, we may only want to adjust the size of a single row or column, or a range of rows or columns.
It turns out that all of the previous methods discussed for setting the row height, or column width of all cells, also work on a single row or column, or a range of rows or columns.
What’s more, if you just want to adjust the height of a single row, you don’t even need to select the row.
Right clicking on the row number will still bring up the context for that row, and the Row Resize cursor also works on individual rows.
The same holds true for columns.
As we’ve seen, setting the width and height of cells in Excel is quite straightforward, and as always, there are quite a few ways of achieving the objective.
You can also custom set the width or height of any and all columns or rows, or have Excel automatically find the best fit.
