diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index b153b0c22..03a002bc7 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ Syntax changes and new commands
 
 Scripting improvements
 ----------------------
+-  New command ``string pad`` allows to extend text to a fixed width (#7340).
 -  ``string sub`` has a new ``--end`` option to specify the end index of
    a substring (#6765).
 -  ``string split`` has a new ``--fields`` option to specify fields to
diff --git a/doc_src/cmds/string-pad.rst b/doc_src/cmds/string-pad.rst
index 42fdcf11a..8f2492715 100644
--- a/doc_src/cmds/string-pad.rst
+++ b/doc_src/cmds/string-pad.rst
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-string-pad - pad characters before and after string
-===================================================
+string-pad - pad strings to a fixed width
+=========================================
 
 Synopsis
 --------
@@ -17,15 +17,13 @@ Description
 
 .. BEGIN DESCRIPTION
 
-``string pad`` pads each STRING with CHAR to the given width.
+``string pad`` extends each STRING to the given width by adding CHAR to the left.
 
-The default behavior is left padding with spaces and default width is the length of string (hence, no padding).
+If ``-r`` or ``--right`` is given, add the padding after a string.
 
-If ``-r`` or ``--right`` is given, only pad after string.
+If ``-c`` or ``--char`` is given, pad with CHAR instead of whitespace.
 
-The ``-c`` or ``--char`` switch causes padding with the character CHAR instead of default whitespace character.
-
-If ``-w`` or ``--width`` is given, pad the string to given width. Width less than the string width will result in an unchanged string.
+The output is padded to the maximum width of all input strings. If ``-w`` or ``--width`` is given, use at least that.
 
 .. END DESCRIPTION
 
@@ -36,15 +34,17 @@ Examples
 
 ::
 
-    >_ string pad -w 10 -c ' ' 'abc'
+    >_ string pad -w 10 abc
            abc
 
-    >_ string pad --right --width 12 --char=z foo barbaz
-    foozzzzzzzzz
-    barbazzzzzzz
+    >_ string pad --right --char=🐟 "fish are pretty" "rich. "
+    fish are pretty
+    rich.  🐟🐟🐟🐟
 
-    >_ string pad -w 6 --char=- foo | string pad --right -w 9 --char=-
-    ---foo---
+    >_ string pad -w 6 -c- " | " "|||" " | " | string pad -r -w 9 -c-
+    --- | ---
+    ---|||---
+    --- | ---
 
 
 .. END EXAMPLES
diff --git a/share/completions/string.fish b/share/completions/string.fish
index c60ccc1c5..fa764982a 100644
--- a/share/completions/string.fish
+++ b/share/completions/string.fish
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 # This follows a strict command-then-options approach, so we can just test the number of tokens
 complete -f -c string
 complete -f -c string -n "test (count (commandline -opc)) -le 2" -s h -l help -d "Display help and exit"
-complete -f -c string -n "test (count (commandline -opc)) -ge 2; and not contains -- (commandline -opc)[2] escape collect" -s q -l quiet -d "Do not print output"
+complete -f -c string -n "test (count (commandline -opc)) -ge 2; and not contains -- (commandline -opc)[2] escape collect pad" -s q -l quiet -d "Do not print output"
 complete -f -c string -n "test (count (commandline -opc)) -lt 2" -a lower
 complete -f -c string -n "test (count (commandline -opc)) -lt 2" -a upper
 complete -f -c string -n "test (count (commandline -opc)) -lt 2" -a length
@@ -48,3 +48,7 @@ complete -f -c string -n "test (count (commandline -opc)) -lt 2" -a repeat
 complete -x -c string -n "test (count (commandline -opc)) -ge 2; and contains -- (commandline -opc)[2] repeat" -s n -l count -xa "(seq 1 10)" -d "Repetition count"
 complete -x -c string -n "test (count (commandline -opc)) -ge 2; and contains -- (commandline -opc)[2] repeat" -s m -l max -xa "(seq 1 10)" -d "Maximum number of printed chars"
 complete -f -c string -n "test (count (commandline -opc)) -ge 2; and contains -- (commandline -opc)[2] repeat" -s N -l no-newline -d "Remove newline"
+complete -f -c string -n "test (count (commandline -opc)) -lt 2" -a pad
+complete -x -c string -n "test (count (commandline -opc)) -ge 2; and contains -- (commandline -opc)[2] pad" -s r -l right -d "Pad right instead of left"
+complete -x -c string -n "test (count (commandline -opc)) -ge 2; and contains -- (commandline -opc)[2] pad" -s c -l char -x -d "Character to use for padding"
+complete -x -c string -n "test (count (commandline -opc)) -ge 2; and contains -- (commandline -opc)[2] pad" -s w -l width -x -d "Integer width of the result, default is maximum width of inputs"
diff --git a/src/builtin_string.cpp b/src/builtin_string.cpp
index b89b34d40..4f22da517 100644
--- a/src/builtin_string.cpp
+++ b/src/builtin_string.cpp
@@ -183,7 +183,7 @@ using options_t = struct options_t {  //!OCLINT(too many fields)
     long end = 0;
     size_t width = 0;
 
-    wchar_t char_to_pad = ' ';
+    wchar_t char_to_pad = L' ';
 
     std::vector<int> fields;
 
@@ -252,7 +252,8 @@ static int handle_flag_c(wchar_t **argv, parser_t &parser, io_streams_t &streams
         return STATUS_CMD_OK;
     } else if (opts->char_to_pad_valid) {
         if (wcslen(w.woptarg) != 1) {
-            string_error(streams, _(L"%ls: Padding should be a character '%ls'\n"), argv[0], w.woptarg);
+            string_error(streams, _(L"%ls: Padding should be a character '%ls'\n"), argv[0],
+                         w.woptarg);
             return STATUS_INVALID_ARGS;
         }
         opts->char_to_pad = w.woptarg[0];
@@ -980,6 +981,12 @@ static int string_pad(parser_t &parser, io_streams_t &streams, int argc, wchar_t
     int retval = parse_opts(&opts, &optind, 0, argc, argv, parser, streams);
     if (retval != STATUS_CMD_OK) return retval;
 
+    size_t pad_char_width = fish_wcwidth(opts.char_to_pad);
+    if (pad_char_width == 0) {
+        string_error(streams, _(L"%ls: Invalid padding character of width zero\n"), argv[0]);
+        return STATUS_INVALID_ARGS;
+    }
+
     // Pad left by default
     if (!opts.right) {
         opts.left = true;
@@ -987,31 +994,36 @@ static int string_pad(parser_t &parser, io_streams_t &streams, int argc, wchar_t
 
     // Find max width of strings and keep the inputs
     size_t max_width = 0;
-    std::vector<wcstring> all_inputs;
+    std::vector<wcstring> inputs;
 
     arg_iterator_t aiter_width(argv, optind, streams);
     while (const wcstring *arg = aiter_width.nextstr()) {
         wcstring input_string = *arg;
         size_t width = fish_wcswidth(input_string);
         if (width > max_width) max_width = width;
-        all_inputs.push_back(input_string);
+        inputs.push_back(std::move(input_string));
     }
 
     size_t pad_width = max_width > opts.width ? max_width : opts.width;
-    for (auto &input : all_inputs) {
-        wcstring padded = input;
-        size_t padded_width = fish_wcswidth(padded);
+    for (auto &input : inputs) {
+        wcstring padded;
+        size_t padded_width = fish_wcswidth(input);
         if (pad_width >= padded_width) {
-            size_t pad = pad_width - padded_width;
+            size_t pad = (pad_width - padded_width) / pad_char_width;
+            size_t remaining_width = (pad_width - padded_width) % pad_char_width;
             if (opts.left) {
-                padded.insert(0, pad, opts.char_to_pad);
+                padded.append(pad, opts.char_to_pad);
+                padded.append(remaining_width, L' ');
+                padded.append(input);
             }
             if (opts.right) {
+                padded.append(input);
+                padded.append(remaining_width, L' ');
                 padded.append(pad, opts.char_to_pad);
             }
         }
+        padded.push_back(L'\n');
         streams.out.append(padded);
-        streams.out.append(L'\n');
     }
 
     return STATUS_CMD_OK;
diff --git a/tests/checks/string.fish b/tests/checks/string.fish
index 6efc705bb..511082521 100644
--- a/tests/checks/string.fish
+++ b/tests/checks/string.fish
@@ -45,10 +45,7 @@ string length -q ""; and echo not zero length; or echo zero length
 string pad foo
 # CHECK: foo
 
-string pad -r -w 4 foo
-# CHECK:  foo
-
-string pad -r -w 7 -c '-' foo
+string pad -r -w 7 -c - foo
 # CHECK: foo----
 
 string pad --width 7 -c '=' foo
@@ -57,14 +54,36 @@ string pad --width 7 -c '=' foo
 echo \|(string pad --width 10 --right foo)\|
 # CHECK: |foo       |
 
+# Pad string with multi-width emoji.
 string pad -w 4 -c . 🐟
 # CHECK: ..🐟
 
+# Pad with multi-width character.
+string pad -w 3 -c 🐟 .
+# CHECK: 🐟.
+
+# Multi-width pad with remainder, complemented with a space.
+string pad -w 4 -c 🐟 k kk
+# CHECK: 🐟 k
+# CHECK: 🐟kk
+
+# Pad to the maximum length.
 string pad -c . long longer longest
 # CHECK: ...long
 # CHECK: .longer
 # CHECK: longest
 
+# This tests current behavior where the max width of an argument overrules
+# the width parameter. This could be changed if needed.
+string pad -c_ --width 5 longer-than-width-param x
+# CHECK: longer-than-width-param
+# CHECK: ______________________x
+
+# Current behavior is that only a single padding character is supported.
+# We can support longer strings in future without breaking compatibilty.
+string pad -c ab -w4 .
+# CHECKERR: string pad: Padding should be a character 'ab'
+
 string sub --length 2 abcde
 # CHECK: ab
 
@@ -644,5 +663,5 @@ echo $status
 # CHECK: 0
 
 # Unmatched capturing groups are treated as empty
-echo 'az'   | string replace -r -- 'a(b.+)?z' 'a:$1z'
+echo az | string replace -r -- 'a(b.+)?z' 'a:$1z'
 # CHECK: a:z