Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: Setting the Width for Row Labels.

Setting the Width for Row Labels

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 29, 2019)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Lars has a worksheet that has a large amount of data—approximately 5,000 rows. At the top of the worksheet he has a graph based on that data, with the data itself starting at row 30. He has the top 30 rows frozen so that he can always see the graph and column headings. When he scrolls down through the data and gets to row 100, the row labels (left side of screen) become wider and this forces Excel to redraw the graph. This happens again when he scrolls down to row 1000. The redrawing slows down scrolling and would be unnecessary if Lars could find a way to set a width for the row labels, so they were wide enough to accommodate the four digits necessary for these "upper" rows.

There are a few ways you can approach this issue. The first to simply turn off the row and column headings. Follow these steps:

  1. Choose Options from the Tools menu.
  2. Make sure the View tab is selected. (See Figure 1.)
  3. Figure 1. The View tab of the Options dialog box.

  4. Make sure the Row & Column Headers check box is selected. If cleared, then the header area is not displayed.
  5. Click on OK.

Now you won't have the problem because Excel doesn't display the row headers at the left of the screen. If you really need to have some indication as to row number, you could always insert a blank column A, then insert numbers representing the row numbers, 1 through 5,000 (or however many rows there are). This column could be made as wide as necessary, so there won't be any redrawing as you scroll.

Another approach is to actually start your data and graph below row 1000. Insert enough blank rows above your graph and data to move them down into the four-digit row number range, and then hide rows 1 through 999.

A variant on this approach is to keep your graph where it is and insert enough rows to move just the data downward, so it starts at row 1000. Hide rows 30 through 999 and you should see no redrawing occur as you scroll.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (11676) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Setting the Width for Row Labels.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Self-Deleting Macros

Macros are very powerful, but you may not want them to always be available to a user. Here are some ways you can limit ...

Discover More

Printing More Than One Copy

Need to print more than a single copy of a worksheet? You can do it easily by using the controls in the Print dialog box.

Discover More

Selecting a Table Row

If you need to select a single row in a table, Word provides several different ways that you can accomplish the task. ...

Discover More

Comprehensive VBA Guide Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the language used for writing macros in all Office programs. This complete guide shows both professionals and novices how to master VBA in order to customize the entire Office suite for their needs. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2010 today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Displaying a Count of Zeros on the Status Bar

Excel allows you to display the results of several common worksheet functions on the status bar. The available functions ...

Discover More

Tasks for Each Workbook

Excel allows you to control how it uses the Windows Taskbar. This tip explains the two ways Excel can use the Taskbar and ...

Discover More

Turning Off Dynamic Menus

You may want to adjust the way that Excel displays its various menus. This tip explains how you can turn off the dynamic ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 2 + 8?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.