Increasing Font Size In Worksheet Tabs

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 8, 2024)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

Many Excel users have problems with the size of font used to display names in the worksheet tabs used by Excel. Unfortunately, there is no way to change the font size within Excel, itself. This is because Excel relies on settings within Windows itself to control how worksheet tabs are displayed. They are considered part of the horizontal scroll bar used by Excel. Fortunately, Windows allows you to increase the size of your scroll bars. By doing so, you increase the size of Excel's worksheet tabs.

You change the size of scroll bars by following these steps:

Get out of Excel. (You don't perform these steps within Excel, remember?)
Right-click anywhere on the desktop. Windows displays a Context menu.
Choose Properties from the Context menu. You will see the Display Properties dialog box.
Make sure the Appearance tab is selected. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Appearance tab of the Display Properties dialog box.

In the Item drop-down list, select Scrollbar. (You can also choose the Scrollbar item simply by clicking the vertical scroll bar in the image at the top of the Display Properties dialog box.)
Increase the value in the Size text box, just to the right of the Item drop-down list. Try a value that is only two or three greater than the value already there.
Click on OK to close the Display Properties dialog box.

Jump back into Excel and check the size of the worksheet tabs. You can repeat these steps, as necessary, until you get just the right look. Understand, however, that you are modifying Windows' configuration information, not Excel's. This means that your changes will also affect other programs you use, not just Excel.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2690) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

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. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Understanding the Recycle Bin

The place where Windows stores files and other items you intend to delete is called the Recycle Bin. Understanding how to ...

Discover More

Wrapping Text around a Graphic in a Text Box

Word allows you to wrap text around a graphic or around a text box, but it won't allow you to wrap text in a text box ...

Discover More

Adding Diagonal Borders

Want to add a border diagonally, through the middle of a table cell? It's easy if you follow the formatting steps ...

Discover More

Save Time and Supercharge Excel! Automate virtually any routine task and save yourself hours, days, maybe even weeks. Then, learn how to make Excel do things you thought were simply impossible! Mastering advanced Excel macros has never been easier. Check out Excel 2010 VBA and Macros today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Dynamic Worksheet Tab Names

Need a worksheet's name to change based on the contents of a cell? You'll need to rely on a macro to do the changing, but ...

Discover More

Sheets for Days

Need a quick way to have a worksheet for each day in a month? Here's a macro that makes the worksheet creation a snap.

Discover More

Freezing Worksheet Tabs

If you have a lot of worksheets in a workbook, you may wonder if you can "freeze" the position of some of those worksheet ...

Discover More

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.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

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.