diff --git a/Test/XLSXWriterTest.php b/Test/XLSXWriterTest.php
index 0b5433dc9..a46e8e837 100644
--- a/Test/XLSXWriterTest.php
+++ b/Test/XLSXWriterTest.php
@@ -219,6 +219,63 @@ public static function getFreezeCellsScenarios() {
 		];
 	}
 
+	public function testColumnsWidths() {
+		$filename = tempnam("/tmp", "xlsx_writer");
+
+		$header = ['0'=>'string','1'=>'string','2'=>'string','3'=>'string'];
+		$sheet = [
+			['55','66','77','88'],
+			['10','11','12','13'],
+		];
+
+		$widths = [10, 20, 30, 40];
+
+		$col_options = ['widths' => $widths];
+
+		$xlsx_writer = new XLSXWriter();
+		$xlsx_writer->writeSheetHeader('mysheet', $header, $format = 'xlsx', $delimiter = ';', $subheader = NULL, $col_options);
+		$xlsx_writer->writeSheetRow('mysheet', $sheet[0]);
+		$xlsx_writer->writeSheetRow('mysheet', $sheet[1]);
+		$xlsx_writer->writeToFile($filename);
+
+		$zip = new ZipArchive();
+		$r = $zip->open($filename);
+		$this->assertTrue($r);
+
+		$this->assertNotEmpty(($zip->numFiles));
+
+		for($z=0; $z < $zip->numFiles; $z++) {
+			$inside_zip_filename = $zip->getNameIndex($z);
+			$sheet_xml = $zip->getFromName($inside_zip_filename);
+			if (preg_match("/sheet(\d+).xml/", basename($inside_zip_filename))) {
+				$xml = new SimpleXMLElement($sheet_xml);
+				$cols = $xml->cols->col;
+				foreach ($widths as $col_index => $col_width) {
+					$col = $cols[$col_index];
+					$this->assertFalse(filter_var($col["collapsed"], FILTER_VALIDATE_BOOLEAN));
+					$this->assertFalse(filter_var($col["hidden"], FILTER_VALIDATE_BOOLEAN));
+					$this->assertTrue(filter_var($col["customWidth"], FILTER_VALIDATE_BOOLEAN));
+					$this->assertEquals($col_index + 1, (string) $col["max"]);
+					$this->assertEquals($col_index + 1, (string) $col["min"]);
+					$this->assertEquals("0", (string) $col["style"]);
+					$this->assertEquals($col_width, (string) $col["width"]);
+				}
+				$last_col_index = count($widths);
+				$last_col = $cols[$last_col_index];
+				$this->assertFalse(filter_var($last_col["collapsed"], FILTER_VALIDATE_BOOLEAN));
+				$this->assertFalse(filter_var($last_col["hidden"], FILTER_VALIDATE_BOOLEAN));
+				$this->assertFalse(filter_var($last_col["customWidth"], FILTER_VALIDATE_BOOLEAN));
+				$this->assertEquals("1024", (string) $last_col["max"]);
+				$this->assertEquals($last_col_index + 1, (string) $last_col["min"]);
+				$this->assertEquals("0", (string) $last_col["style"]);
+				$this->assertEquals("11.5", (string) $last_col["width"]);
+			}
+		}
+
+		$zip->close();
+		@unlink($filename);
+	}
+
 	private function stripCellsFromSheetXML($sheet_xml) {
 		$output = [];
 
diff --git a/xlsxwriter.class.php b/xlsxwriter.class.php
index c4b05c845..7ea4ce443 100644
--- a/xlsxwriter.class.php
+++ b/xlsxwriter.class.php
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ public function writeToFile($filename)
 		$zip->close();
 	}
 
-	protected function initializeSheet($sheet_name, $freeze_rows=false, $freeze_columns=false)
+	protected function initializeSheet($sheet_name, $col_widths = [], $freeze_rows=false, $freeze_columns=false)
 	{
 		//if already initialized
 		if ($this->current_sheet==$sheet_name || isset($this->sheets[$sheet_name]))
@@ -172,7 +172,16 @@ protected function initializeSheet($sheet_name, $freeze_rows=false, $freeze_colu
 		$sheet->file_writer->write(    '</sheetView>');
 		$sheet->file_writer->write(  '</sheetViews>');
 		$sheet->file_writer->write(  '<cols>');
-		$sheet->file_writer->write(    '<col collapsed="false" hidden="false" max="1025" min="1" style="0" width="11.5"/>');
+
+		$cols_count = count($col_widths);
+
+		if (!empty($col_widths)) {
+			foreach($col_widths as $i => $column_width) {
+				$sheet->file_writer->write(    '<col collapsed="false" hidden="false" max="'. ($i + 1) .'" min="'. ($i + 1) .'" style="0" customWidth="true" width="'.floatval($column_width).'"/>');
+			}
+		}
+		$sheet->file_writer->write(    '<col collapsed="false" hidden="false" max="1024" min="'. ($cols_count + 1) .'" style="0" customWidth="false" width="11.5"/>');
+
 		$sheet->file_writer->write(  '</cols>');
 		$sheet->file_writer->write(  '<sheetData>');
 	}
@@ -201,10 +210,11 @@ public function writeSheetHeader($sheet_name, array $header_types, $format = 'xl
 			$start = 0;
 		}
 
+		$col_widths = (!empty($col_options['widths'])) ? (array)$col_options['widths'] : [];
 		$freeze_rows = (array_key_exists('freeze_rows', $col_options) && $col_options['freeze_rows'] !== false) ? intval($col_options['freeze_rows']) : false;
 		$freeze_columns = (array_key_exists('freeze_columns', $col_options) && $col_options['freeze_columns'] !== false) ? intval($col_options['freeze_columns']) : false;
 
-		self::initializeSheet($sheet_name, $freeze_rows, $freeze_columns);
+		self::initializeSheet($sheet_name, $col_widths, $freeze_rows, $freeze_columns);
 		$sheet = &$this->sheets[$sheet_name];
 		$sheet->cell_formats = array_values($header_types);
 		$header_row = array_keys($header_types);