How to Make Columns Wider in Excel

There are many ways to customize a spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel. Knowing how to make columns wider in Excel is important when building spreadsheets because it is very common for text or numbers to not fit into a cell. Once you know how to widen Excel columns, creating spreadsheets will be much easier.

Instructions

Click & Drag

1. Place your mouse pointer on the top row where the column letters are displayed.

2. Move the cursor over the lines separating the columns and notice that the cursor becomes a cross.

3. Place the cursor over the line to the right of the column that you want to make wider. Be sure that it turns into a cross before going to the next step.

4. Click and drag the column over until it is the width that you want.

Use the Toolbar

1. Go to "Format."

2. Select "Column" and then "Width."

3. Enter the width that you want the column to be in the "Column Width" box.

4. Click "OK." The column's width will change.