When you copy a range
of data from one area of a workbook to another, most of the formatting
will be copied but not the column widths. For example, when the range
A4:F12 in the example below is copied to the range H4:M12 the cell
formats come with the copied data but the column widths do not.
Example of Copying Data Where Column
Widths Don’t Come With the Copy
With Excel 95 and
Excel 97 you can highlight the columns containing the copied data and
use the Copy and the Paste Special – Formats command to copy the
column widths from the original location to the new location.
Unfortunately, this also copies all the formats in all the cells in
the copy from column and changes the formats in the copy to columns to
those formats all the way down the worksheet.
Excel versions 2000
and higher include a small but significant improvement to the Paste
Special command. Now you can Paste Special – Column Widths without
pasting any other aspect of the formula. In the above scenario the
copy process is still a two-step process (i.e. copy the data and then
copy the column widths), but at least you now have a specific way of
accomplishing your objective without messing up the formats for
thousands of other cells.
The Paste Special Column Widths Command
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