How to Adjust column widths with PASTE SPECIAL in Excel 2007
By clicking the Copy button on the Home tab, pressing Ctrl+C, or clicking Copy on a contextual menu, you can easily copy the contents of a range of cells so you can paste the contents somewhere else in your worksheet. Cells can contain a lot of information. When you paste with Paste Special, you decide exactly what information you want to paste. You can choose to paste everything or you can choose to paste just one element of the cell’s contents, such as the formula, value, format, comment, validation, or column width.
You can paste more than once. For example, when you paste by clicking Paste, Excel pastes the values, formulas, and formats but does not adjust the column widths. You can remedy this problem by pasting in two steps. In the first step, paste column widths. Excel adjusts the column widths. In the second step, paste your values, formulas, and formats.
1. Click and drag to select the cells you want to copy.
2. Click the Home tab.
3. Click the Copy button.
4. Place the cursor in the cell(s) into which you want to paste.
5. Click Paste. A menu appears.
6. Click Paste Special. The Paste Special dialog box appears.
7. Click Column Widths
8. Click OK. Excel copies the column widths from the source to the destination.
9. Click Paste. Excel pastes the contents of the cell. You can press Esc to end the copy session.
You can choose the Skip Blanks option ( changes to ) in the Paste Special dialog box if your source includes any blanks. If you do, Excel will not overwrite a destination cell with a blank if the destination cell has data in it.
