Changing the Height of Worksheet Tabs

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 27, 2022)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

Cindy noted that when naming worksheet tabs, the width of the tabs varies based primarily on the name of the tab. She wonders if there is a way to increase the height of a worksheet tab.

This can't be done within Excel. You can, however, make some changes in Windows itself to help the tabs be just a bit higher. How you do this depends on the version of Windows you are using. If you are using Windows Vista you can follow these steps:

  1. Right-click anywhere on the desktop and choose Personalize from the resulting Context menu. Windows displays the Personalization portion of the Control Panel.
  2. Click Window Color and Appearance.
  3. Click Open Classic Appearance Properties. Windows displays the Appearance Settings dialog box.
  4. Click the Advanced button. Windows displays the Advanced Appearance dialog box.
  5. 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.)
  6. Increase the value in the Size text box, just to the right of the Item drop-down list. Try a value that is about 28 or larger.
  7. Click on OK to close the Advanced Appearance dialog box.
  8. Click on OK to close the Appearance Settings dialog box.

If you are using a different version of Windows you may need to poke around in the Control Panel until you can find the setting that is changed in steps 5 and 6. (It may take some digging, but you'll find it eventually.) Understand that adjusting this setting will provide a larger worksheet tab height, but it will also affect all the other programs you run on your system—their scrollbar sizes will be larger as well.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (8562) 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. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Assigning a Shortcut Key to Styles

Shortcut keys are a great way to apply styles to text in a document. You can easily create a shortcut key assignment for ...

Discover More

Automatically Capitalizing Day Names

When you enter a day name into a cell, Excel automatically capitalizes it. If you want to modify this behavior, follow ...

Discover More

Permanent Watermarks in a Document

Need to add a graphic watermark to a document? It's not that hard to do but making the watermark permanent can be a bit ...

Discover More

Dive Deep into Macros! Make Excel do things you thought were impossible, discover techniques you won't find anywhere else, and create powerful automated reports. Bill Jelen and Tracy Syrstad help you instantly visualize information to make it actionable. You’ll find step-by-step instructions, real-world case studies, and 50 workbooks packed with examples and solutions. Check out Microsoft Excel 2019 VBA and Macros today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

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

Turning Off Worksheet Tabs

Look at the bottom of a worksheet and chances are you will see tabs for all the worksheets in the current workbook. Want ...

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.

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

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 eight minus 4?

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.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.