When formatting a grid for their data, your users probably adjust the width of their columns more often than they change the height of the rows in their worksheets. But if they want absolute symmetry in their row height and column width, here's a mouse shortcut you can teach them that can make short work of formatting worksheets.

Suppose you have a range of rows of varying heights, and you want to make them all the same height. Click and drag the row numbers themselves to select the rows. Then mouse over the horizontal line between any two of the selected row numbers. When the mouse changes to the arrowhead-cross (a horizontal line crossed by a line with arrows pointing north and south), click and drag up or down. Release the mouse at the desired height, and Excel will format the sheet using the new setting, overriding the previous settings for row height.

The same technique works for columns. Just click and drag the column headings to select the columns you want to format. Then mouse over the vertical line between any two selected column labels and adjust the width manually.

What if you want to select and format the whole worksheet at once?

Select the whole sheet by clicking the box in the top-left corner of the sheet (the one above row 1 and to the left of column A). Or you can press [Ctrl]A. Then, changes you make to row height and column width are global.