Excel for Microsoft 365: Obtaining the Default Column Width

Question

I am using VBA in Excel for Microsoft 365.

I wish to obtain the default column width and store it in a Double variable. This is driven by the desire to not hardcode it. I have attempted to obtain this value as follows:

Dim ws As Worksheet
Set ws = ThisWorkbook.Worksheets.Add(After:=ThisWorkbook.Worksheets(ThisWorkbook.Worksheets.Count))

Dim columnStandardWidth As Double
columnStandardWidth = ws.StandardWidth

However, this returns a value of 8.11 rather than the expected 8.43.

I have two questions:

1. How may I obtain the proper value of 8.43?
2. What does the column width of 8.11 represent?

Answer 1

According to Microsoft, the default column width is 8.43. However this can can change based on your default font size as mentioned here and is 8.11:

The default column width has to do with default font size, and 8.11 of a standard character fit in the column.

In my case, the default column width is like yours 8.11.

How may I obtain the proper value of 8.43?

Create a new template and customize it as described here:

To create a new default Excel workbook template:

1. Open a new blank Excel workbook.
2. Next, customize the blank workbook exactly as you want it to look.
3. Save the workbook with the specific file name in a designated folder.

On step 2, set the default width to 8.43.