Prevent labels from spilling into other columns

[MrBiggy]

When you put a label in a column, that is wider than the column, and you don't wrap it or shrink to fit, etc. it "spills" into adjacent columns so the whole label is displayed. In some cases this might be desirable, but in others not.

You can prevent it from spilling by putting a blank space into the next adjacent column -- that truncates the display of the label -- but clearly this is not a good solution.

Is there a way to prevent labels from doing this so that only the portion of the label that is in the cell where the label is entered is visible on the spreadsheet? Of course you can see the entire label by selecting the cell itself, and that's what I want to do without it spilling into other columns.

Thanks for any help!

[newdoverman]

Select the cells that you want this formatting to apply to. Right click and choose format, Alignment, Text Alignment Horizontal, and choose FILL. The cell will maintain its width and excess characters will not spill into the adjacent cell.

[MrBiggy]

Thanks so much newdoverman! Been using Excel for 25 years and never noticed that setting (not that it's been there all that time)!

[newdoverman]

You're welcome!

I too have noticed that setting but have never found a use for it. It is a rather odd thing I think.

[MrBiggy]

You're welcome!

I too have noticed that setting but have never found a use for it. It is a rather odd thing I think.

It is indeed odd. I now remember coming across this at one time as a way to repeat label values in a cell to fill the cell. Although I don't remember anything about accessing it on that drop down list. I made a mental note of it but never really found a meaningful use for it. But I never knew it was also a way to suppress the value from spilling over into the next column.

It's a decent solution, but not a perfect solution. I don't really want the value to repeat to fill the cell if I widen the cell. I just want to set the cell contents to not spill over if it isn't wide enough for the label.

But it's good enough and I am very grateful for your help!