How do you change column width in Excel?

Answer 1

Use AUTOFIT, which finds the widest value in a column and sets the width to that. It is found in the Format menu, under Column. It can also be done by putting the mouse between the column headings for two columns until you get a double-headed arrow, and then double clicking.

Answer 2

Look at the top bar where it shows A | B | C.... etc, the headers for columns. If you click and hold on the black line separating these headers, you can drag it left or right to change the width of the column to the left. If you double click, the program will automatically resize the column to fit the widest piece of text inside it with appropriate gaps separating the cells. If you select everything before double clicking, it will resize all columns. The same principle can be applied to rows, though that's generally less useful.

One note - if you have a table header followed by a narrow data table (like the example below), you will have to merge the cells containing the header ("Displacement of..." in the example) in order to get it to resize properly; otherwise it will put stuff after the first column way off to the right.

Example

Displacement of an object in 2 dimensions as a function of time

t(s) x(m) y(m)

1 2 0.5

2 4 1.0

3 6 1.5

......
You can change the column width in Excel by using 2 methods. You can manually change it by sliding the cursor on the top to make a column wider. Or, you can double click on the line in between the cells and Excel will automatically change the width based on how much typing is in the box. Good luck!