Size To Fit Form

First Published 29 Aug 2026 Last Updated 2 Sept 2026



Size to Fit Form has been an item on the Home ribbon since Access 2007 and was available in VBA long before that.

Home ribbon
Until recently the feature has been of limited use. For many years, I only used it after stretching or shrinking a form and then changing my mind.
Clicking Size to Fit Form provided a quick way to restore the form dimensions to the appropriate size for the form controls.

This could also be done using code: DoCmd.RunCommand acCmdSizeToFitForm

For me, it was occasionally useful, but something I probably used about once a year.

However, for those who (like me) use Overlapping Windows display, it has suddenly become much more valuable when used in conjunction with the new Zooming feature.

With the initial release of Zooming (stage 1 and 2) up to version 2608, when popup forms are zoomed (or any form whilst using overlapping windows), the form controls are zoomed but not the form dimensions.

This can result in the controls only occupying a small part of the form at low zoom values. Worse still, some controls may be cut off or not visible when zoomed above 100%.
Scroll bars are ESSENTIAL here.

Zoom level = 100% Zoom level = 80% Not Resized Zoom level = 120% Not Resized
Form at 100% Zoom Form at 80% Zoom - Not Resized Form at 120% Zoom - Not Resized


However, if Size to Fit Form is clicked after zooming a form, the form dimensions are automatically resized to match the form controls.

Zoom level = 100% Zoom level = 80% Resized Zoom level = 120% Resized
Form at 100% Zoom Form at 80% Zoom - Resized Form at 120% Zoom - Resized


For those who just use standard forms and tabbed documents display, this feature provides little real benefit when zooming.
However, this is a huge enhancement for all users who prefer overlapping windows display and when using popup forms.

Before I accidentally (re-)discovered this functionality in the past few days, I had been pressing the Access team to make this functionality natively available when zooming forms.

I was therefore VERY pleased when the Access team agreed to my request.
The boolean Zoom Resizes Window form property was released to the Beta Channel with version 2609 build 20403.20000 on 2026-08-06.

I recently wrote about this new property as part of my article: Fine Tuning the Zooming Feature

The new property is currently only available in the Beta Channel. It will gradually roll out to all channels over the coming months.
However, the Size to Fit Form feature will continue to be useful for popup forms and overlapping windows display.

In fact, users now have complete control over zooming behaviour as follows:
1.   If you want a form to automatically resize whenever it is zoomed, just set the ZoomResizesWindow property true.
2.   If you only want a form to resize on selected occasions when zoomed, leave the ZoomResizesWindow property false (default value) and use Size To Fit Form when required.

PERFECT!!!!



Popup Forms

Popup forms are independent of the Access window and are never treated as the 'active form'.
Just like the Zoomribbon item, the Size to Fit Form button only works for the currently active form so both are disabled for popup forms.

Home Ribbon - Popup Form
However, the code DoCmd.RunCommand acCmdSizeToFitForm can still be used from a popup form event.
For example, the following code is used to adjust the form dimensions when the popup form zoom value is switched between 100% and 130%. 

Private Sub cmdZoomResize_Click()
    If Me.cmdZoomResize.Caption = "Zoom to 130% && Resize" Then
        Me.Properties("Zoom") = 130
        DoCmd.RunCommand acCmdSizeToFitForm
        Me.cmdZoomResize.Caption = "Revert to 100% && Resize"
    Else
        Me.Properties("Zoom") = 100
        DoCmd.RunCommand acCmdSizeToFitForm
        Me.cmdZoomResize.Caption = "Zoom to 130% && Resize"
    End If
End Sub


Zoom level = Popup form at 100% Zoom level = Popup form resized at 130%
Popup Form at 100% Zoom Popup Form at 130% Zoom - Resized




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Colin Riddington Mendip Data Systems Last Updated 2 Sept 2026




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