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Excel drop down box width

Anonymous
2023-07-21T20:59:20+00:00

Hello,

I made some changes to my Excel file with drop downs in it (data validation). When I now click the drop down, I see all the items but for some reason the width of the overall drop down box is now very wide with a lot of white space in it. How can I control the width of the drop down box that contains the drop down items so the width of the box is just slightly wider than the widest drop down item?

thank you

Craig

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For business | Windows

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-01-18T17:09:54+00:00

    The width of a drop-down box in a cell is determined by the width of the cell itself. Therefore, to change the width of the drop-down box, you need to adjust the width of the cell that contains the drop-down list. 

    This is not the case for me. I created a column in a table that was very wide by default. First, I added data validation to the column, and then I changed the width of the column, but the width of the data validation drop-down did not change and is still inappropriately wide. No change to the width of the column results in any change to the width of the drop down.

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-07-24T12:49:39+00:00

    Hi respected CraigCB,

    Thanks for your valuable feedback and sharing update with us.

    I appreciate your kind words.

    If you find our information helpful, you can also use the feedback tool below our reply to submit your feedback for us (pictured below), which will definitely help others in the community who are experiencing similar problems to find solutions to their problems more quickly.

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    If there is any issue related with the Office applications in the future, please feel free to post back in this community.

    We will be here for help.

    Have a good day and stay safe 😊

    Best wishes

    Waqas Muhammad

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-07-24T12:28:11+00:00

    thank you for the information!

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-07-21T21:26:29+00:00

    Dear respected CraigCB,

    Good day! Thank you for posting to Microsoft Community. We are happy to help you.

    As per your description, in Excel 365, the width of the drop-down list is controlled by the width of the cells where are the data not by the width of the cell where is the dropdown box itself.

    The width of a drop-down box in a cell is determined by the width of the cell itself. Therefore, to change the width of the drop-down box, you need to adjust the width of the cell that contains the drop-down list. 

    You can have your list on a different worksheet and use the column width to this list. And try to remove the Data Validation from the cell(s) and then reapply the validation again.

    Note: The width of the drop-down box may also be influenced by the font size and the length of the items in the list.

    Appreciate your patience and understanding and thank you for your time and cooperation.

    Sincerely,

    Waqas Muhammad

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