Prevent WPS Office Power Query Refresh from Changing Column Width
Question details
The user needs to prevent Power Query from automatically resizing table columns after a refresh, especially a frozen timestamp column whose width was manually adjusted.
- Product
- WPS Office Spreadsheets - Power Query
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- The user has a Power Query output table with manually adjusted column widths and wants those widths to remain unchanged when the query refreshes.
- Observed behavior
- Power Query automatically resizes table columns during refresh, undoing manual column width changes including the frozen timestamp column.
Open the workbook in WPS Office Spreadsheets and select any cell inside the Power Query output table. The Table/Query Properties option is available only when the active cell is inside the query result table.
Disable Adjust column width in the Power Query table properties
Use this solution when you want manually adjusted column widths, including a frozen timestamp column, to remain unchanged after every refresh.
Power Query automatically resizes output columns to fit the imported data. Turning off the Adjust column width property keeps the current layout while still allowing the query to refresh data.
Open the WPS Office workbook, go to the worksheet containing the query result table, and click any cell inside the Power Query output table.
Right-click the selected cell and choose Table Properties, or open the Query tab and select Query Properties to open the properties dialog.
In the Table/Query Properties dialog, locate the Adjust column width checkbox and clear it, then click OK to save the change.
Right-click the table and choose Refresh, or use Data > Refresh All, and confirm that the manually set timestamp column width remains unchanged.
Keep Power Query Column Widths Fixed in WPS Office Spreadsheets
WPS Office Spreadsheets lets you keep manually adjusted column widths by turning off the Power Query Adjust column width property. This preserves your frozen timestamp column formatting across refreshes without changing the query output.
- 1. Download and install WPS Office: If not already installed, download WPS Office from the official WPS site, then open your workbook in WPS Office Spreadsheets.
- 2. Open the Power Query output table: Navigate to the worksheet that contains the Power Query result table and click any cell inside that table.
- 3. Open Table/Query Properties: Right-click the selected cell and choose Table Properties, or use the Query tab to open the query properties dialog.
- 4. Disable Adjust column width: In the properties dialog, clear the Adjust column width checkbox and click OK.
- 5. Refresh and check the timestamp column: Refresh the query or use Refresh All, then confirm that the manually adjusted timestamp column width remains unchanged.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Power Query change my column widths after refresh?
Power Query has an automatic Adjust column width setting enabled by default, so the output table is resized to fit the imported data after every refresh.
Where do I find the Adjust column width option in WPS Office?
Select a cell in the query output table, right-click and open Table Properties or Query Properties, then look for the Adjust column width checkbox in the properties dialog.
Will disabling Adjust column width affect other Power Query tables?
No. The setting applies to the selected query table only. You must disable it individually for each output table you want to keep manually sized.
Can I re-enable automatic column width later?
Yes. Open the same Table/Query Properties dialog and select the Adjust column width checkbox again, then refresh the query.
Does this work for frozen timestamp columns in WPS Office?
Yes. Once Adjust column width is disabled, manually adjusted columns, including a frozen timestamp column, retain their width after refresh.
