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I have a spreadsheet with many columns. The columns are all a small standard width. Double-clicking the partition line between columns will expand the column width to encompass the longest string in that column. Is there a shortcut to perform this operation on every column in the spreadsheet?

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Just a comment: "howto" as one word usually means "this is a guide" not "how do I". – msanford Jul 8 '10 at 22:08
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3 Answers

up vote 12 down vote accepted

Click where the row and column headers meet, this will select the entire sheet, like so:

alt text

Then double-click any one of the column partition lines.

I do this all the time, and it's as quick as you can get.

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This is great, thanks! – Brian Webster May 12 '11 at 15:22
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up vote 6 down vote

I don't know about shortcut. I use menu.
1) Select The Full Spreadsheet
2) Select Format
3) Column
4) Autofit Selection

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+1 I like this solution because it works on whatever range you select and you can exclude, for instance, titles that you want to span many columns. – dkusleika Jul 8 '10 at 17:02
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up vote 4 down vote

Try selecting everything (CTRL + A twice rapidly, or just select the columns you want), and then double-click a partition line. In Excel 2007, that solution seems to work just fine; in other words, it automatically sizes each column to its own longest string.

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doesn't work in 2003 – Dave Jul 8 '10 at 16:18
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It does work in 2003. In both versions, you have to make sure the whole column is selected, not just a range of cells. – dkusleika Jul 8 '10 at 17:01
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