Learn how to autofit rows in Microsoft Excel in tried and tested ways.

If you’ve worked on a client report or performance tracker in Excel, you know the pain. Sometimes, the text in a row overflows. Other times, it gets cut off or hidden.

This makes your sheet look messy. It becomes hard to read. It also looks unprofessional. It feels like typing a business proposal where parts of your sentences disappear. That’s frustrating.

Autofitting rows sounds easy. But many people struggle with it. Some try to resize rows by hand. Others just ignore the problem.

I’ve seen this happen a lot. That’s why I created this tutorial. It shows you the quick ways to fix the issue. You’ll learn to make your rows adjust to the content. Your spreadsheet will look clean and sharp. Let’s get started!

Double-Click Row Border

Autofitting rows using the double-click method is the simplest way to resize row height so all content becomes visible without cutting off text.

This method is great when your row content varies in size and you’d like to adjust the row height uniformly. Then, you must use this method in Excel to automatically adjust the height based on the tallest cell in that row.

Open your Excel worksheet where you want to adjust row heights.

Look at the left side of the worksheet, where the row numbers (1, 2, 3…) are displayed vertically.

Move your mouse pointer to the bottom edge of the row number you want to resize. For example, if you want to autofit row 5, place your pointer at the bottom line of the box labeled 5.

Watch for the mouse pointer to change into a double-headed arrow pointing up and down — this is the resize icon.

Double-click the bottom border of the row number box while the double-headed arrow is visible.

Excel will instantly adjust the height of that row so it fits the tallest cell content perfectly.

Repeat the same for any other rows that need to be autofitted.

To autofit all the rows against the tallest row in the group (except when font sizes are different), click on the Select All button in the top left corner of the worksheet. The logic behind row autofitting in Excel is to match the row height to the font size.

Double-click on the bottom row border of any row in the dataset to autofit the row heights.

This method is ineffective when cells contain wrapped text that hasn’t been manually adjusted or when merged cells are present, as Excel won’t accurately autofit their height.

📒 Read More: How Many Rows Can Excel Handle?

Using the Format Tool of the Home Tab

Using the Format tool in the Home tab lets you autofit row height with just a few clicks from the ribbon. Therefore, it’s the ideal method for adjusting multiple rows at once. This method is beginner-friendly and doesn’t require precise mouse actions like double-clicking borders.

Navigate to the Excel workbook where the rows need adjustment of heights for uniformity and readability.

Select the rows you want to autofit by clicking and dragging over the row numbers on the left side of the sheet, or press Ctrl while clicking individual row numbers and selecting those as a group.

Go to the top of the Excel window and click the Home tab in the ribbon if it’s not already selected.

Look for the Cells group near the right end of the Home tab ribbon.

Click the Format drop-down button inside the Cells group — it usually has a small down arrow next to the word Format.

From the drop-down menu, click AutoFit Row Height, which is usually in the middle section under Cell Size.

Excel will now adjust the selected rows so that each row fits the tallest content within it.

This method doesn’t work properly on rows that include merged cells.

📒 Read More: 8 Ways to Move a Row in Microsoft Excel

Using the Right-Click Context Menu

Using the right-click context menu to autofit rows in Excel is a quick and accessible method that doesn’t require navigating the ribbon. It’s a good option for you if you prefer using the mouse and want a fast way to adjust row height without using toolbar buttons.

Open the Excel workbook where you’d like to adjust the row heights to autofit the rows.

Highlight the rows to which you wish to apply this technique. You can manually select a range of cells by clicking the row number(s) on the left side of the sheet.

Contrarily, if you wish to select non-adjacent rows, select one row from the left side of the worksheet and press the Ctrl key. Now select other rows one by one.

Finally, if you want to select all the rows in the worksheet, click on the Select All button in the top left corner of the worksheet.

Now, right-click on the rows selected to bring up the context menu. There, find and click on the Row Height option.

The Row Height dialog box will open.

Enter a value in the dialog box, like 15 for standard row size. Click OK to apply.

Excel will autofit all the rows to match the entered value instantly.

You must know the row height value you want to use. Though it’s easy to remember the standard value, which is 15, if it’s a custom font size, you must invest some time in trial and error.

Using a Shortcut Key

Using a shortcut key to autofit rows in Excel is a fast and keyboard-friendly method that avoids mouse clicks entirely. It’s perfect for you if you prefer using keyboard commands to speed up your workflow.

Open your Excel workbook and navigate to the sheet where you want to autofit one or more rows.

Use your mouse to select the row numbers on the left, or use the keyboard by pressing Shift + Space to select the current row.

If you want to select multiple rows using the keyboard, hold Shift and use the Up or Down arrow keys to expand the selection.

Press the Alt key on your keyboard, and you’ll see shortcut hints appear on the ribbon tabs.

Press H to activate the Home tab, then press O to open the Format menu, and finally press A to apply AutoFit Row Height.

Excel will quickly resize the selected row or rows to fit the tallest content in each.

The only downside of this method is that you need to remember the keys used here to achieve the final result; also, if you press a wrong key after hitting Alt — for example, pressing G instead of H — Excel might open a different tab or command, interrupting the flow and forcing you to start the shortcut sequence again.

Using Wrap Text + AutoFit

Sometimes, none of the autofit functions for rows in Excel won’t work since the cells have a default or copied text wrap style. In this case, you need to combine the Wrap text feature along with any of the mentioned autofit techniques to adjust the row heights automatically. Let me walk you through the steps below:

For example, the dataset above is taking too much vertical space due to the active text wrap feature.

To autofit row height to its default values, select the dataset and click on the Wrap Text button in the Alignment block of the Home tab.

Doing this should reduce the row heights significantly.

Now, if the row heights aren’t uniform throughout the dataset, select the source cell range either using the mouse or by clicking on the Select All button in the top left corner of the worksheet.

Double-click on the bottom border of any of the rows in the selection range.

Excel will automatically trim or increase the row height to bring in a uniform aesthetic to the dataset.

Troubleshoot Row Height and Content Visibility in Excel

Here are some common problems where row height adjustments in Excel don’t work, along with their solutions:

Merged Cells Prevent Autofit

Autofit row height doesn’t work on rows with merged cells. Excel doesn’t calculate the height correctly. Here’s how to solve this challenge:

Unmerge the cells by selecting them, then go to the Home tab, click Merge & Center, and choose Unmerge Cells.

Then, apply autofit row height using any method explained above.

If you need merged cells, manually adjust the row height by right-clicking the row number and choosing Row Height.

Row Height Set Manually Prevents Autofit With Wrap Text

If a row’s height was manually set earlier, Excel won’t autofit it automatically, even if Wrap Text is enabled, the row height stays fixed. Fix this problem by following these steps:

Select the affected row(s), go to the Home tab, click Format in the Cells group, and choose AutoFit Row Height.

This resets the manual height and allows Excel to expand the row based on the wrapped content.

For consistent behavior, avoid setting fixed row heights when using wrapped text.

Conclusions

So now you know how to autofit rows in Microsoft Excel in various ways to suit different use cases and scenarios. Also, you learned how to fix autofit row height problems when cells are merged or a predefined row height has been applied.

If you learned something new today and wish your friends, colleagues, and family members knew these Microsoft Excel tips and tricks, share this Excel guide with them.

Don’t forget to comment below to share an acknowledgement or feedback to improve the guide.