Quickly copy a source column’s width when copying data in Excel

When you copy data from one column to another, you probably adjust the target column’s width to accommodate the new values. If you do so by checking the source column’s width and then setting the target column’s width to match—STOP! You’re working too hard! There’s a quick and easy way to copy a source column’s width to a target column.

To copy a source column’s width to the target column, do the following:

1. First, copy the data using any method you like, probably [Ctrl]+C and [Ctrl]+V.
   
2. After pasting the data, right-click the new range.
3. Choose Paste Special from the resulting context menu.
4. In the Paste section, click the Column Widths option. Word 2003 users must then click OK.

Excel will automatically update the target column’s column width to match the source columns in just three quick clicks!