Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 8, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016
Word includes an odd little feature that allows you to force text to fit within a single line of a table's cell. It does this by decreasing the apparent size of the text so that everything fits. It does this without (according to some Microsoft sources) changing the actual font size of the text. This makes little real-world difference, however, since the size of your text is changed on both the screen and any printouts.
It might be more accurate to say that while the height of the text used is not changed, the width is. You can take advantage of this Word table feature by following these steps:
Figure 1. The Cell tab of the Table Properties dialog box.
Figure 2. The Cell Options dialog box.
You should note that if there is not enough text in a cell to fit all the way across the cell, Word forces the text to fit. This means it will increase the spaces between words and characters to fill the cell. It will not, however, widen the actual characters that make up the cell contents. Word apparently only makes characters narrower, not wider.
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2017-06-03 13:07:08
Jay
Thank you, Allen, this will be useful for developing data sheet at my site.
After playing with this a bit, I noticed that if you remove characters in a 'fit' cell that has begun scaling characters, the amount of scaling will not reset automatically. Adding characters will continue to reduce the scaling, but removing them will leave the cell locked in at the smallest scale achieved.
Also, there is a small error in Step 3 ... Excel should be Word.
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