Enlarge Text in Spreadsheet Tabs

Q. My Excel files generally contain a dozen or more worksheets, and each, of course, has its own worksheet tab. The typeface in the tabs is awfully small and I have trouble reading it. Is there a way to make the type larger?

A. Yes, there is. In fact, you can adjust the size, spacing and even the color of many Windows screen features. But first let me tell you how to enlarge the worksheet tabs. Begin by closing Excel if you have it open. The adjustment is done in Windows, not in Excel.

Go to the desktop (the Windows button+D) and place your cursor at any empty location—one without an icon—and right-click. A menu will drop down; select Properties and that will open a new screen. Click on the Appearance tab to call up another screen (see screen shot at right).

Near the bottom of the screen is a box labeled Item: Click on the adjacent arrow until Scroll bar appears. Then move your cursor to the right to the Size: box and increase the number one or two digits. Click on Apply and then OK. Now open Excel and see if the tabs are large enough. If they’re still too small or too big go back and adjust them.

You should understand that you are modifying Windows’ configuration—not just Excel’s, thus any change will affect the scroll bars of other applications, too.

Notice also, if you go back to Item: , that you can adjust many other parts of Windows. I warn you, however, it can become addictive; you can spend hours fiddling with scores of adjustments. But since you do spend hours at the computer, it does make sense to customize it to your liking.

Windows lets you adjust the size of the tabs in an Excel worksheet.