Shrinking Cell Contents

Excel includes a feature that allows you to shrink the contents of a cell so that everything fits on a single line. This feature can have bizarre results if the cell contains quite a bit of text, or if the column width is relatively narrow. You can take advantage of this feature by following these steps:

1. Choose the cell (or cells) you want to affect.
2. Display the Format Cells dialog box. (In versions of Excel prior to Excel 2007 choose Format | Cells. In Excel 2007 display the Home tab of the ribbon and click the small icon at the bottom-right of the Alignment group.)
3. Make sure the Alignment tab is selected. (Click here to see a related figure.)
4. Make sure the Shrink To Fit check box is selected.
5. Click on OK.

You should note that this option does not cause Excel to reduce the point size of the text within the cell, only to make it appear to be smaller. This may sound confusing, and quite frankly is of little consequence when applied to the real world. Whether the point size is technically adjusted or not, the information in the cell still appears smaller, as necessary, to fit everything on a single line.