Microsoft Access 2010 Bible

Chapter 6: Working with Datasheet View

237

Changing the field display width

You can change the field display width (column width) either by specifying the width in a dialog

box (in number of characters) or by dragging the column border. When you drag a column bor-

der, the cursor changes to the double-arrow symbol.

To widen a column or to make it narrower, follow these steps:

1. Place the mouse pointer between two column names on the field separator line.

The mouse pointer turns into a small line with arrows pointing to the left and right — if
you have it in the correct location.

2. Drag the column border to the left to make the column smaller or to the right to make it
   larger.

Tip
You can instantly resize a column to the best fit (based on the longest visible data value) by double-clicking the
right column border after the cursor changes to the double arrow.

Note
Resizing the column doesn’t change the number of characters allowed in the table’s field size. You’re simply
changing the amount of viewing space for the data contained in the column.

Alternatively, you can resize a column by right-clicking the column header and selecting Column

Width from the pop-up menu to display the Column Width dialog box, as shown in Figure 6.13.

Set the Column Width box to the number of characters you want to fit in the column or click the

Standard Width check box to set the column to its default size. Click on Best Fit to size the column

to the widest visible value.

FIGURE 6.13

The Column Width dialog box

Caution
You can hide a column by dragging the column gridline to the gridline of the next column to the left, or by set-
ting the column width to 0 in the Column Width dialog box. If you do this, you must choose More ➪ Unhide
Columns in the ribbon’s Records group to redisplay the hidden columns.