Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Adjusting the Width of Characters.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 20, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021
Word provides a way you can adjust the horizontal size of characters in your document. Actually, the scaling can be applied to any characters in a selection. To format characters in this way, follow these steps:
Figure 1. The Advanced tab of the Font dialog box.
As an example of what this does to your characters, take a look at the following figure. (See Figure 2.) The first line has the letters "ABCD" in the normal font, and the only difference in the second line is that the letters "BC" have had their Scale setting changed to 500%. Notice that the height of the characters isn't changed; only their width is changed.
Figure 2. An example of width-adjusted characters.
If you find you have a need to scale quite a few selections in your documents, you can add a scaling tool to the Quick Access Toolbar by following these steps:
With the Character Scaling tool in place, you can easily change the scaling of any selected text at any time.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (6009) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Adjusting the Width of Characters.
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