How can I set columns widths on reports?

Hi tsfbusiness,

You can adjust the column widths by clicking and dragging the column dividers located at the top of your report. Please see sample screenshot.

Here's also an article for more information: How To Customize Reports.

Please let me know if you have any other questions about QuickBooks. Thanks.

How about if the column widths need to be wide enough to read the entire account title? I am having kittens because I cannot see the whole account name and I have to take extra time to click in the field and use the side arrow keys to scroll through the entire account name so I know I am properly recording each transaction. Shortening the account name is not an option as the client is rigid in that regard. Thank you in advance for helping me to stop having kittens.

Thanks for joining the Community, M77.

You should be able to view the account's name on the report in QuickBooks Online. I'll be happy to share a few insights and help you from there.

First, may I know what specific report you're trying to run? Knowing so will help me double-check its column's widths.

Now, let's try checking the computer's display settings to make sure you can view the entire account's name.

To display all pages and reports properly, here are the requirements in QuickBooks Online:

• Screen resolution set to 1024x768 or higher
• Dots-per-inch (DPI) set to "Normal" or "100%"
  Note: We recommend that you maximize the browser window for working in QuickBooks Online, particularly if your resolution is 1024x768.

Here's an article for more details: QuickBooks Online screen.

As always, you can visit our Help Articles page for QuickBooks Online. It has other questions and "How do I" steps.

That information should get you on the right track.

I'd appreciate if you can update me on how it goes. I'll be here if you have follow-up questions.

This seems to be a slow and cumbersome way to do this and you need to be precise when lining up the cursor.

Also, you may need to narrow other columns to allow more space for the ones you want to see.

It would be easier if there was an Excel type solution where you could just double-click the columns to resize.

All in all a bit frustrating!

Hi there, Andy Jersey.

I can see how having an Excel type on the report would make it easier to resize the columns. Rest assured, I'll take note of the feedback and submit this along to our Product Development team to help improve your experience.

I suggest visiting our QuickBooks Blog site to know the latest updates as well other references while working in QuickBooks.

Please leave a comment if there's anything else I can do for you. I'll be here to help you. Have a nice day!

I understand how this works but is there no other way?  This method works occasionally for me but usually I click and drag for about a millimetre then the arrows disappear and nothing happens, no matter how precise I try to be with my cursor.  This is not a satisfactory method for doing this as most of the time it simply DOES NOT WORK for me.  It is very frustrating.  QBO needs to look into this - in the meantime does anyone have any tips for me to accomplish this.  It is very annoying to have to scroll back and forth continuously while viewing a report because you can't make it fit on the screen (aside from changing the column order).

I would like to revise my previous post.... I have realized that I actually can widen my columns, which is fine, but I need to narrow them.  Apparently the way I have them is as narrow as they will go!  So in the particular report I am viewing, the date column is wide enough to fit two dates side by side, yet the system won't let me narrow it any further!!  Why can I not make my columns the width I want them??  Please look into fixing this.  Thank you.

I'm having a similar problem, however when I click on the column separator icon, nothing happens.  I cannot "grab" it to resize the columns.

I appreciate your effort in performing the steps above to resize columns, @Saralyn.

Let's do basic troubleshooting to identify the cause of the behavior. To start, I recommend accessing QuickBooks Online through a private browser. This is a special mode that doesn't leave browsing history. Here's how:

• Press Ctrl + Shift + N (Google Chrome).
• Ctrl + Shift + P (Firefox or Internet Explorer).
• Control + Option + P (Safari).

If the column separator icon, then let's go back to your regular browser and clear its cache. Cache can sometimes cause issues when trying to do certain tasks in the program. Also, you can try using a different supported browser. This way, you can check whether this has something to do with your browser.

I'm not sure if something was fixed on QBO's end, but it now seems to be ok.  Hopefully I will have no more issues.  Thanks.

It would be nice in all reports to have the option of the printed report to look like the displayed report on the computer screen i.e. "what you see is what you get" [WYSIWYG].  Especially for the balance sheet and the P&L statement - to be able to suppress the layered indentations for sub-accounts.  You can mess around with column widths, but you end of cutting off some of the column description and it is very difficult to get a uniformly even right-hand alignment.  

QuickBooks Online has one advantage over the stand alone version I used to use, you can access it from anywhere and on more than one computer in the business.  That's about it.  Most cumbersome program I have ever used, especially when printing reports.  I cannot understand why Quickbooks Online was created without allowing the user to set the margins on the report the way they want.  Wasn't a problem in the older offline versions.  If I were to rate Quickbooks online on a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being poor and 10 being exceptional I would give it a 5, and only because of the accessibility anywhere and cloud storage.  Very dissappointed.

I have tried and tried for at least 30 minutes to drag and resize and it is not taking.  The default column for Date does not need to be triple the characters of the actual date.  Is there a reason drag doesn't work on my laptop?  I've tried the mouse and the finger pad.

A possible browser issue might have prevented you from resizing the columns in your report, karenL10.

I'll share some steps with you on how to resolve common browser issues when working in the program. 

You can start by either logging in to QBO using an incognito browsing session, using a different browser, or deleting your browsing history. Just use these keyboard shortcuts to open a private or incognito browsing session:

• Ctrl + Shift + N  for Google Chrome
• Ctrl + Shift + P  for Firefox
• Control + Option +P if you're using Safari

Once done, log back in and resize the column in your transaction report. You can also use this article on how to delete cache and other temporary internet files: Clear Cache And Cookies To Fix Issues When Using QuickBooks Online.

Let me also share these additional articles to share additional details on what you can do when running reports:

• Customize Reports In QuickBooks Online
• Common Custom Reports In QuickBooks Online 
• Memorize Reports In QuickBooks Online 

I'll jump right back to this thread if you have follow-up questions. We'll make sure everything is sorted out. 

It drives one crazy that sometimes it is impossible to click on the column dividers in order to drag it! What is going on? Is this a browser thing?  I really like Mozilla Firefox and do not want to use Chrome

You'll want to check if your browser is up-to-date, kastrup.

You can use the browser health checkup tool to see if your version of Mozilla Firefox is supported. QuickBooks supports the current and two previous versions of browsers. Old versions might cause errors and issues when using QuickBooks Online.

Check out this article for more information about supported browsers: System requirements for QBO.

Let me know if you have other questions, I'll be here to help.

Same issue reported by everyone else in this tread --- for months. I can make columns wider but CAN'T make the Date column or other columns NARROWER in any report -- even when I use a Private browser window in Chrome.

This needs to be fixed by the web team! It's absolutely frustrating.  Let the users decide what column size we need.

QBO, when will we see a fix for the ongoing column width issues? I have never been able to print a PDF Profit & Loss Detail report showing the Name (Payee/Vendor) on a single line. The Name column is ALWAYS very narrow, much too narrow to produce clean-looking report, and it adds multiple additional pages to the report as a result of the Name taking up multiple lines. This is something so very important, I can't understand why we are not getting this issue resolved. 

Hello there, jdubya,

Ideally, you can adjust the report's column widths. If you're unable to do so, let's do quick troubleshooting.

Let's begin by accessing your account in a new incognito or private window of your browser. This way, we can check if this issue is related to your current browser or not. Let me guide you how:

• Google Chrome: Ctrl + Shift + N
• Mozilla Firefox: Ctrl + Shift + P
• Safari: Command + Option + P

Once completed, you can log back into your account and check if you can adjust the width. If it's done, you can clear your browser's cache to optimize it. Also, your browser can start from scratch and improve your QuickBooks Online browsing experience.

Feel free to drop by anytime if you have other concerns.

Does anyone know how to save the column width so you don't have to spend 10 min changing the column widths everytime you open the report?  Customize Reports doesn't have a feature to change columns, and please don't tell me to point and drag, I'm tired of customizing the report everytime I open it to show the columns..QB should make it fit to size of data in the column and not cut off the report columns

Hi James.

I'm glad to have you here on this thread. I can share with you on how to save the column width on your reports.

To save the column's width of your report, you can memorize it by selecting the Save customization tab. Here's how:

1. Open the report you need, then adjust the fields from there.
2. Make the necessary filters and the rest of the customization (columns, transactions, dates, and others).
3. Tap on the Save customization tab.
4. Enter the report's name and the other details.
5. Click Save.

Then, here's how to open the report in the future:

1. Click on Reports at the left pane, then tap on Custom reports.
2. Look for the report from the list, then open it.
3. The report's settings and columns' width are saved.

For more tips about managing reports in QuickBooks Online, I recommend checking out the details from this article: Run reports in QuickBooks Online.

Just in case you want to export your reports to Excel for further customization, you can skim through this link for your guide: Export your reports to Excel from QuickBooks Online.

Please let me know how else I can help you with your reports. I'm more than happy to help. Keep safe!

I upgraded to QuickBooks Desktop Pro 2020. Ever since, I cannot adjust the columns on ANY reports. The column indicators on the reports are grayed out. Same thing happens when I drill down on something in the report. The transaction detail doesn't allow me to change the columns either so I can't see the full description because the column is too narrow. Very frustrating.

Hi. Ever since I upgraded to Quickbooks Desktop Pro 2020 I can't adjust the column widths on ANY of my reports including the standard ones that come with QB. The column width indicators are grayed out and it doesn't allow me to change them. 

Hi there, @GSH2.

Thanks for visiting the Community. I'm here to help ensure you're able to adjust the column widths in the report. 

Let's reset and download the QuickBooks update. Then, run the Verify utilities to check some issues. Here's how: 

To download the update

1. Click on Help and choose Update QuickBooks Desktop.
2. Click Update now.
3. Place a checkmark in the Reset update checkbox, then click Get Updates.

To run the utilities

1. Click on File.
2. Choose Utilities.
3. Select Verify Data.

If it finds an issue, you'll be asked to back up your company file and run the Rebuild utilities. Check out this article for more details: Verify and Rebuild Data in QuickBooks Desktop.

For future reference, you can also check out the required operating system, hardware, and software compatibility requirements for QuickBooks by reading through this article: System Requirements.

Let me know if you have additional concerns. I'll be here to help you more.