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 Row Height.

Setting Row Height

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 14, 2019)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Excel normally sets the height of rows within your worksheet to reflect the size of the largest font used on the row. You can, however, adjust the height of the row to any size desired. For instance, you might want to add additional space before a row. Rather than insert a blank row, you can increase the height of the row, so it has blank space before it.

The easiest method for adjusting row height is to use the mouse. All you need to do is move the mouse pointer into the row header area (the gray area at the left of the row). When you move the pointer, so it is over a dividing line between rows, it changes shape to a double-headed arrow. When the mouse pointer is this shape, you can click on the left mouse button, hold it down, and drag the border to a new position. When you release the mouse button, the row is resized to the new height.

You can also adjust row height in this manner:

  1. Select any cell in the row you want to adjust. If you select a cell range that includes cells in multiple rows, you can adjust the row height for more than one row at a time.
  2. Choose Row from the Format menu. Excel displays a submenu.
  3. Choose the Height option from the submenu. This displays the Row Height dialog box. (See Figure 1.)
  4. Figure 1. The Row Height dialog box.

  5. Adjust the value in the dialog box to reflect the desired row height.
  6. Click on OK.

The value shown in the dialog box (step 4) represents the current height of the selected row, in points. A point is equal to approximately 1/72 inch; it is the measurement unit used for fonts.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2756) 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 Row Height.

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. ...

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