I find the functionality to zoom in on a specific section of the data set in Excel quite useful when I used to present my work in calls and meetings. Once you know how to zoom in or zoom out in Excel, it only takes a simple keyboard shortcut or a couple of clicks to quickly get the right zoom level of your data. In this tutorial, I’ll show you simple methods to zoom-in and zoom-out in Excel. I will cover some important Zoom shortcuts you should know and some cool tricks.
Keyboard + Mouse Combo to Zoom in and Zoom Out
In my experience, the easiest and the fastest way to quickly zoom in and zoom out in a worksheet in Excel is by using this combination of mouse and keyboard. Below are the steps to zoom in Excel using the above mouse and keyboard combo: When using the scroll wheel, it zooms in the increments of 15% (and zooms out at 15% as well) You can see the current zoom level in the status bar
Keyboard Shortcuts to Zoom in and Zoom Out
If you are more of a keyboard shortcuts person, then you can use the below keyboard shortcuts in Excel: Keyboard shortcut to Zoom-In: Keyboard shortcut to Zoom-Out To use the keyboard shortcuts, you need to hold the Control key and the ALT keys together, and then press the plus key or the minus key. Pressing the plus or minus keys would change the zoom level by 15%. So if you need to zoom more, you will have to press the plus or the minus key multiple times. Note that this keyboard shortcut would only work if you have a numeric keypad
Setting the Zoom Level Using the Ribbon
In the above keyboard shortcuts, I showed you how to change the zoom level by 15% at a time. But if you already know the zoom level to which you want to set your worksheet, you can use the option in the ribbon to open the Zoom dialog box and specify the zoom level there. Below are the steps to open the zoom dialog box through the ribbon: You can also use the below keyboard shortcut to open the Zoom dialog box:
Zoom Worksheet to 100%
In case you have changed the zoom levels of your worksheet and you want to revert back to the original 100% zoom, you can do that by clicking on the 100% option in the View tab. Alternatively, you can use the below keyboard shortcut to get your worksheet into the 100% zoom level:
Zoom to Selection
If you want your Excel worksheet to be completely zoomed into the selected data set, you can do that by clicking on the ’Zoom to Selection’ option in the View tab. Alternatively, you can use the below keyboard shortcut to quickly zoom into the selection:
Setting the Zoom Level Using the Status Bar
Another quick way to zoom in and zoom out in Excel is by using the Status bar: By default, at the right end of the status bar, you would see the zoom slider where you can use your cursor and drag the slider left to zoom out and right to zoom in. Also, if you click on the zoom percentage value, it would open the dialog box where you can use any of the pre-defined zoom levels or specify your own custom value. In case you do not see the zoom slider or the zoom percentage value in the status bar, right-click on the status bar and then make sure these two options are selected.
Zoom In Zoom out When Using Touch Screen
If you’re using a touchscreen monitor or laptop, you can also zoom in and zoom out by putting two fingers on the screen and moving them apart to zoom in (or moving them closer to zoom out).
Important Things to Know About Zooming In and Out in Excel:
Excel allows you to set the zoom settings between 10% and 400% If your Excel worksheet has named ranges, and you zoom below 40%, you will be able to visually see the name of the named range in the range itself (as shown below)
When you zoom in or zoom out on a worksheet in Excel, it only impacts that specific worksheet. All the other worksheets in the same workbook would remain unchanged In case you want to set the zoom level of multiple worksheets in the same workbook in one go, you need to first group these worksheets by selecting them together and then change the zoom levels. To group the worksheets, hold the control key and then click on the sheet tab names. Also, remember to ungroup the worksheets once you’re done (or else anything you do afterward would also be done on all the worksheets that are grouped)
In this tutorial, I showed you multiple ways to quickly zoom in or zoom out in Excel. I also covered different Zoom options you have in the ribbon (such as bringing back the zoom level to 100% or Zoom to Selection”). Other Excel articles you may also like:
100+ Excel Interview Questions & Answers To Make You Job Ready Excel Freeze Panes: Use it to Lock Row/Column Headers 24 Excel Tricks to Make You Sail through Day-to-day work Increase Excel Tab Numbering as You Create a Copy How to Turn OFF Scroll Lock in Excel? How to Freeze Multiple Columns in Excel?
