excel for mac 2004 question

I need to change the font size of my row and column headers, they are too big.

I tried Format > Style > Modify > Font...no luck. It changed the default font of the page but left the headers unaffected.

I saw nothing (except R1C1 option under General) in Preferences.

Can anyone help? Much appreciated.

Terry

Strictly speaking, this is a software or applications issue, so you may find it moved.

I cannot find Font via the pathway you've outlined, nor R1C1 in Prefs. Headers should be dealt with via Page Setup > Header/Footer > Customize, wherein you can set font and size using the instructions provided.

Not that kind of header/footer. I'm talking about row and column headers - the numbers down the side of the rows and letters across the tops of the columns.

Terry

Terry1121 said:

I'm talking about row and column headers - the numbers down the side of the rows and letters across the tops of the columns.

Click to expand...

Okay, I did wonder about that (and I've found the R1C1, just missed seeing it earlier).

If I go to Format > Row > Height, I can change that to a desired number and shrink or expand the cell height. Similar with Format > Column > Width. Is that what you want to do?

How to make the settings the default I've yet to discover.

I noticed I was in the wrong heading but when I tried to Edit my post to either move it or just cancel and rewrite it under the right heading, I couldn't do either. I thought that was odd.

Anyway, the font is too big for the row height. It doesn't change as row height changes. It's annoying and it wasn't always that way.

Terry

Terry1121 said:

the font is too big for the row height. It doesn't change as row height changes. It's annoying and it wasn't always that way.

Click to expand...

I agree, Excel is annoying - period. One of the most fiddly and yet universally used spreadsheet apps ever!

Re the font size - after changing the column/rows etc dimensions, you'll need to change the font size as well. That is done via the toolbar at the top. Excel treats cells, columns, rows etc, and text, as quite different entities.

I've never known the row and column headings/headers font to adjust to the size of the row/column. I also don't know of a way to change the font size myself. It's probably more of an issue with short rows than with narrow columns, eh? But, why is it an issue? Do you want them to print? (You can set it so that you see them on the screen, but they don't print.) Or, do you want to be able to read them on screen when working with formulas? (But, if that's the case, wouldn't a row that's so short that you can't read the header also be so short that you can't read what's in the cell unless your font size for that cell is tiny?) What's your issue with this behavior?

The font size is too big. Much bigger than the default size of, say, 10 or 12. It's more aesthetics than anything. It doesn't happen in every file though. Perhaps it got changed somehow in saving certain ones. It's a mystery. I know in Excel for Windows you can change the font style and size of the headers at will. I've done it but it's been way too long since I used a PC to remember how.

It's not critical. Thanks for thinking about this. I was hoping is was something simple I was missing.

Terry

Terry1121 said:

The font size is too big. Much bigger than the default size of, say, 10 or 12.

Click to expand...

In my version of 04 Excel (11.5.3 - must update it when back on b/band), the smallest listed font size is 8, but I believe you can reduce that further with the keystoke Cmd-[.

I know in Excel for Windows you can change the font style and size of the headers at will. I've done it but it's been way too long since I used a PC to remember how.

Click to expand...

Fellow feeling there. I worked Excel in Windows about 9 years ago and (casting furtive glances) I much preferred it to the Mac version. Of course it was initially designed for WinOS, so it's not surprising.

As said earlier, I can change font, size and style readily by using the toolbar, which I have positioned above the open worksheet. What do you have selected to show via View > Toolbars?

It's not so simple that a preference setting can be adjusted for it. I looked for one. You could go into Excel Preferences>View and uncheck Row and Column Headers, then hit OK, go back in and recheck it. Do they change, or come back the same way?

By the way, this topic fits better in the OSX Applications Forum.

to Hughvane: I have Standard, Formatting and Drawing.

to toMACsh: I know it's in the wrong forum but couldn't seem to change it via Edit. Not even cancel or delete the post and rewrite.

to ALL: I figured it out. When you zoom to 125% or 150% it seems that the headers get inordinately bigger than the font size default (in my case 12 pt). Especially at 150%. The font stays the same size (relatively speaking) when zoom in but the header numbers and letters actually get bigger.

Thanks for pondering with me about this. I am sane once again.

Terry :Blushing:

Make sure the Formatting Palette is up and open and change font sizes there.

Terry1121 said:

to toMACsh: I know it's in the wrong forum but couldn't seem to change it via Edit. Not even cancel or delete the post and rewrite.

to ALL: I figured it out. When you zoom to 125% or 150% it seems that the headers get inordinately bigger than the font size default (in my case 12 pt). Especially at 150%. The font stays the same size (relatively speaking) when zoom in but the header numbers and letters actually get bigger.

Click to expand...

Mine don't. I just opened a file and zoomed to 200% and the box and text for the headers increased proportionately to each other.

No biggie on the forum location. Usually a moderator will move it. You can use the "report post" button (the ! in the little box at the lower left) to make that request.