Fit a Slightly Too-Large Value in a Cell

August 30, 2023 - by Bill Jelen

Problem: I just printed 10 copies of the 20-page report for a meeting. Some numbers printed as ##### instead of numbers.

Strategy: Excel shows the ### when the number is too big for the cell. But, numbers will sometimes fit on the screen and not fit when you are printing.

One number is too big to fit and is displayed as ####### — Figure 1296. Annoying [pound, hash, or number] signs.

To solve this problem, you can use Excel’s Shrink to Fit option. To use it, you select the numeric columns. Press Ctrl+1 to access the Format Cells dialog. On the Alignment tab, you choose Shrink to Fit from the Text Control section.

Results: The cells will be displayed in a smaller font when they become too wide for the column. This is preferable to having the numbers displayed as ######.

In Format Cells, Alignment, choose Shrink to Fit. — Figure 1297. Choose Shrink to Fit.

The number that was too big and previously shown as ###### is now in a slightly smaller font and is shown as 10,205,685. — Figure 1298. The small font for 10,205,685 is preferable to #####.

This article is an excerpt from Power Excel With MrExcel

Title photo by Diana Polekhina on Unsplash