Alt + E S W Mac Excel Shortcut: Legacy Paste Column Widths (2026 Guide)

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Quick Answer

Alt + E + S + W is a legacy pre-ribbon shortcut for Paste Column Widths. With Accelerator Keys, this shortcut works exactly like the modern Alt + H + V + W sequence.

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If you are looking for the Alt + E S W shortcut on Mac Excel, you may be familiar with this shortcut from older versions of Excel (2003 and earlier). This legacy shortcut still works with Accelerator Keys and maps to the modern ribbon equivalent.

What Does Alt + E S W Do?

Alt + E + S + W is the legacy shortcut for Edit > Paste Special > Column Widths. It pastes only the column widths from the copied cells, keeping your destination data intact.

Legacy vs. Modern Shortcut Comparison

Shortcut	Era	Menu Path
Alt + E + S + W	Legacy (Excel 2003)	Edit > Paste Special > Column Widths
Alt + H + V + W	Modern (Ribbon)	Home > Paste > Keep Source Column Widths

Both shortcuts work with Accelerator Keys!

Step-by-Step: How to do Alt + E S W on Mac Excel

Install the Fix: Download Accelerator Keys (14-day free trial, no credit card required).
Copy your data: Select cells with the column widths you want and press Cmd+C.
Activate the Ribbon: Press the Option key.
Execute Sequence: Press E, then S, then W.
Result: Only column widths are applied to the destination.

When to Use Paste Column Widths

This shortcut is useful when you want to:

Match column widths across different worksheets
Apply consistent column sizing without copying data
Quickly format a new table to match an existing layout

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the modern equivalent of Alt + E S W?

The modern ribbon shortcut is Alt + H + V + W (Home > Paste > Keep Source Column Widths). Both work with Accelerator Keys.

Does Alt + E S W work natively on Mac Excel?

No, the native Mac Excel “KeyTips” does not support legacy pre-ribbon shortcuts. You need Accelerator Keys to use Alt + E + S + W on Mac.