Merged Cells/ Word Wrapping and Autoheight

**woodguy23321** · 12-28-2010, 11:33 AM

I'm using Excel 2007, and am running into a formatting issue.

Lets say I have merged cells A2, A3, A4 & A5. I have also set the text to wrap, and set the row to Autoheight.

My problem is the merged cell does not automatically adjust in height. The text does wrap properly, and I can manually adjust the row height to display the text properly. If I unmerge the cells, the information in A2 does Wrap and AutoHeight correctly.

This has something to do with the merging of the cells.

I can take contents of the merged cell and place the value in another cell. Lets say in cell A10, I use a formula "=A2", if the cell width is set to the same as the merged cells it will format correctly. By that I mean cell A10 will wordwrap and Autoheight correctly, and with the height of the row changing, Now cell A2 display correctly. This is my current work around.

Any thoughts would be appreciated

**royUK** · 12-28-2010, 11:43 AM

I would avoid merging cells, they generally cause problems

**woodguy23321** · 12-28-2010, 01:21 PM

Originally Posted by royUK

I would avoid merging cells, they generally cause problems

I generally do avoid merged cells for anything other than "Static display" or formula style information. In this particular spreadsheet, I need the merging so my printed output looks correct for non-users. But I also need alot of flexibility in the document to enter many types of values, Also the 3 cells C3 - E3, determine where the costs for the item is placed on a summary sheet.

I have attached a portion of the worksheet in question.

Any ideas on other design methods to achieve a similar result?

These worksheets do not get very large, seldom more than 500 lines. Is there a way with VBA/Macros to look at Cell B4 and determine what the needed cell height is based upon Text Length/Cell Width, and change the row height to match it? Maybe link to an OnChange event related to cell B4?

I know I would have to consider font size, and calculate # of pixels ect, just need ideas of a direction to procede.

Thank you

**martindwilson** · 12-28-2010, 03:26 PM

unmerge cells
then try selecting b4:e4
format cells alignment horizontal centre across selection

**shg** · 12-28-2010, 04:05 PM

In the alternative,

In P2 and down, =B4 and format col P to wrap text.

Make the width of col P the same as the total width of cols B/C/D/E

Col P will serve to adjust the row height. It may not be perfect.

**prohmex** · 03-22-2014, 08:15 PM

Hello everyone,

I am having the same problem as woodguy23321. I have Excel 2010.
I have a Print template with merged cells, the merged cell gets its content from "=statement!B2". Due to its rather complex formating it is not possible to unmerge the cell, it would ruin the Print layout.
Is there really no way to adjust automatically the hight of a merged cell/row to its content?
Any help on this issue would be greatly appreciated.

**FDibbins** · 03-22-2014, 09:13 PM

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