How to Copy and Paste in Excel and Keep Cell Size (7 Examples)

Get FREE Advanced Excel Exercises with Solutions!

Sometimes we need to copy and paste in Excel and keep cell size. It saves a lot of time during work. Also makes the dataset more attractive. In this article, we are going to learn how to do that with some easy and quick examples with explanations.

Table of Contents hide

How to Copy and Paste in Excel and Keep Cell Size: 7 Examples

1. Use Context Menu to Copy and Paste in Excel to Keep Cell Size

2. Copy and Paste Features to Keep Cell Size in Excel

3. Keep Cell Size Same in Multiple Spreadsheets

4. Copy and Paste Excel Cell and Apply Format Painter to Keep Cell Size

5. Excel ‘Paste Special’ Feature to Copy and Paste Exact Cell Size

6. Use Home Tab to Copy and Paste in Excel and Keep Cell Size

7. Keyboard Shortcut to Keep Cell Size Same

Conclusion

1. Use Context Menu to Copy and Paste in Excel to Keep Cell Size

Context Menu is an important feature of Excel. It appears by the right-clicking of the mouse on a cell. Assume we have a dataset of a company. It contains information on employees’ Names, Duration of work & wage Amounts for Project 1 (B4:D7) The very same employees will work for Project 2 (B9:D12). So, we are going to copy the employees’ data from Project 1 and paste it to Project 2. We also keep the cell size the same.

STEPS:

First, select rows 6 & 7.
Next, right-click on the mouse.
A context menu pops up. Select the option Copy from that.

Now select row 11.
Again, right-click on the mouse.
Then from the context menu, select the Paste feature of the Paste Options.

After that, press the Esc key.
Finally, we will see the copy-paste data with the same cell size in both rows.

2. Copy and Paste Features to Keep Cell Size in Excel

Excel has simple copy and pastes features to keep the exact cell size. To demonstrate this method, we are using the same dataset of Method 1.

STEPS:

In the beginning, select rows 6 & 7.
Now press Ctrl + C keys. This will copy both rows. We can see the green border around them.

Then, select row 11.

After that, press the Ctrl + V keys. This will paste the data we copied.
Finally, press the Esc key and we will see the result.

Similar Readings

3. Keep Cell Size Same in Multiple Spreadsheets

Suppose, we have the dataset of employees’ Names, Duration of work & wage Amounts for Project 1 (B4:D9). We are going to copy this spreadsheet information into another spreadsheet named ‘Sheet1’.

STEPS:

Select the top left corner icon of the spreadsheet at first. This will select the entire spreadsheet.
Secondly, press the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + C to copy the data.

Thirdly, go to the required spreadsheet ‘Sheet1’.
Again, select the top left icon of that sheet.
After that, press Ctrl + V to paste the data.
Finally, we can see the required result and also keep the cell size.

4. Copy and Paste Excel Cell and Apply Format Painter to Keep Cell Size

Format Painter is used to copying one cell’s format to another. We can use this option to keep the cell size the same after the copy-paste. To apply this option, we are going to use the dataset of Method 1.

STEPS:

First, select the cell range B6:D7 which we want to copy.
After that, hit Ctrl + C keys together to copy the cells.

Then select Cell B11.
Now hit the Ctrl + V keys to paste the above cells’ information.

Again select rows 6 & 7.
Next, go to the Home tab and select the Format Painter option from the Clipboard section.

Here, we will see that the mouse cursor is converted into the Format Painter icon.
So, select row 11 at this moment.

After selecting, we can see that the size of rows 11 & 12 is the same as rows 6 & 7.

Similar Readings

5. Excel ‘Paste Special’ Feature to Copy and Paste Exact Cell Size

Let’s assume that we have a dataset of the company’s employees’ names for two projects (Project 1 & Project 2). We see that the same employees are working. So we simply copy the cell range of Project 1 (B5:B8) and paste it to the cell range of Project 2. Now we will notice that the cell’s width size is not the same. To do that we are going to use the Paste Special feature.

STEPS:

Firstly, select the cell range B4:B8.
Secondly, right-click on the mouse and select the Copy option from that pop-up menu.

Thirdly, select Cell D4.
Again, right-click on it. A context menu pops up.
Now select the ‘Paste Special’ option from the Paste Special group.

This will open a Paste Special window.
Next, select the Column widths option from the Paste section.
After that, press OK.

Finally, we will see the width sizes are changed like its source.

6. Use Home Tab to Copy and Paste in Excel and Keep Cell Size

We can find the Copy & Paste features in the Home tab of the ribbon in Excel. Let’s see how to use them to keep the exact cell size. Here, we are going to use the same dataset of Method 1.

STEPS:

In the beginning, select rows 6 & 7.
Now, go to the Home tab.
Select the Copy drop-down from the Clipboard section.
Next, select the Copy option.

Then again, select rows 11 & 12.
Likewise, in the previous steps, go to the Home tab.
After that, select the Paste option from the Clipboard group.

Finally, we will see the pasted result with the same cell size. Remember to press the Esc key from the keyboard.

7. Keyboard Shortcut to Keep Cell Size Same

Excel has a keyboard shortcut to copy a cell which is ‘Ctrl + C’. The shortcut to paste a cell is ‘Ctrl + V’. But these will only copy-paste the cell value but not the cell size. To copy-paste in Excel and keep the cell size, we are going to use two shortcuts. Press Alt + H + C + C keys one by one to copy the required cell. Again, press Alt + H + V + P keys simultaneously to paste that cell value and keep the cell size.

Practice Workbook

Download the following workbook and exercise.

Copy Paste and Keep Cell Size.xlsm

Conclusion

By using these methods, we can easily copy and paste in Excel and keep cell size. There is a practice workbook added. Go ahead and give it a try. Feel free to ask anything or suggest any new methods.

How to Copy and Paste in Excel and Keep Cell Size (7 Examples)