Sometimes you need to wrap text in an Excel cell to write on multiple lines, but pressing the Enter key automatically takes you to another cell in the spreadsheet. This is something that many people who are not particularly familiar with computers encounter or, more simply, those who do not yet know how to use Excel very well.
However, don’t worry! I assure you that the solution to this problem is much easier than you might imagine. To create cells with text on multiple lines, all you need to do is press the correct key combination on your PC’s keyboard or properly set up the spreadsheet properties. Follow the instructions on how to wrap text in an Excel cell below, and you’ll learn more.
If you can’t wait to start reading this guide, let’s not waste any precious time and let’s get to work right away! All you have to do is carefully read all the tips you find in the next chapters. That said, I wish you a good read and, above all, a good job!
Table of Contents
- How to Wrap Text in Excel on PC
- How to Wrap Text in Excel Online
- How to Wrap Text in Excel Using Keyboard
- How to Wrap Text in Excel with Formula
- How to Wrap Text in Excel on Smartphones and Tablets
- How to Wrap Text in an Excel Cell OpenOffice
How to Wrap Text in Excel on PC
If you want to know how to wrap text in an Excel cell using the classic desktop version of the software for Windows or macOS, you can use the Wrap Text formatting feature. This allows the typed text to wrap if the length of the cell is insufficient.
To proceed, highlight the Excel cells where the line break should be present, and click on the Wrap Text button (the icon with some letters and a downward arrow), which you can find in the Alignment section of the Home tab. Alternatively, right-click on one of them and choose Format Cells from the menu that appears. In the screen you see, click the Alignment tab, check the box next to Wrap Text, and confirm it by clicking OK.
From this moment on, in the cells where you have set the specified format, the text will automatically wrap. Additionally, the height of the cells will automatically adjust to fit the text. If you want to know more about how to adjust cells to content in an Excel sheet, I recommend reading this tutorial.
How to Wrap Text in Excel Online
If you want to know how to wrap text in an Excel cell using the online platform, you should know that the procedures are not much different from those I explained in the previous chapter.
All you need to do is access the Excel Online service and log in with your Microsoft account. Once that’s done, upload your Excel file using the Upload button at the top right, or open one of the documents on OneDrive.
After opening the document, highlight the cell you want to work on and then press the Wrap Text button found in the Home tab.
Alternatively, right-click on the cell and in the panel that appears, select Format Cells. In the sidebar on the right, go to the Alignment tab and press the Wrap Text button in the Text Control section.
How to Wrap Text in Excel Using Keyboard
The most practical method I can recommend for wrapping text in an Excel cell is to use a specific key combination that will help you insert a line break immediately.
That said, in your spreadsheet, double-click the cell where you want to insert the text and start typing. At this point, when it’s time to wrap the text, press the Alt+Enter keys on your Windows PC keyboard simultaneously.
If you have followed my instructions carefully, the cursor will be positioned on the new line below the cell, and you can continue typing additional text. Remember that you can wrap the text as many times as you want by pressing the Alt+Enter key combination each time.
Do you want to know how to wrap text in an Excel cell on Mac? In this case, know that the key combination is exactly the same. Therefore, within a cell, use the alt+enter keys to wrap text in the same cell in Excel.
I want to point out that to make the cell containing the text more visually appealing and harmonized with the rest of the spreadsheet, you may need to resize it. To do this, click the separator between the letter of your cell and the next one (at the top of the Excel window) and, while holding down the left mouse button, expand the cell to the desired size.
How to Wrap Text in Excel with Formula
At this point, regarding your question about how to wrap text in an Excel cell, I think you’ve received sufficient answers. However, let’s see in this chapter how to use the dedicated Excel formula CHAR().
This function, using the value 10 as an argument, CHAR(10), simply adds the line break character within a cell, but it may be necessary to enable “wrap text” display, as I explained in the previous chapter.
For example, using this function in conjunction with the CONCATENATE() function, you can combine the text of one cell with that of another, adding the line break to wrap the text.
Inside a cell, therefore, use both functions like this =CONCATENATE("text";CHAR(10);"text"). Instead of the text value, keeping the quotes, write the words to type. You can, of course, repeat as many arguments as you like within the CONCATENATE() function, as long as you separate them with a semicolon.
The CHAR() function can also be used alongside other functions, such as SUBSTITUTE, RIGHT, LEFT, to insert the line break alongside the contents of other cells according to the rule imposed by the main function.
Let’s look at a concrete example. If you have multiple cells each containing a specific character you want to replace with a “line break,” you can simply use the formula =SUBSTITUTE([cell];"|";CHAR(10)).
How to Wrap Text in Excel on Smartphones and Tablets
Excel is also available in mobile version for Android (even on alternative stores) and iOS/iPadOS, where it is free for all devices with a size of 10.1″ or smaller. For devices with larger screens, a subscription to Microsoft 365 is required.
To wrap text in an Excel cell from a tablet, all you need to do is select the cell where you want to wrap text and then press the Home tab at the top. At this point, click the Wrap Text button and you’re done.
On a smartphone, because of the small screen size, the procedure is slightly different. To wrap text in an Excel cell, tap the cell that contains or will contain the text, then from the dropdown menu at the bottom, select the Home option and then the Wrap Text option.
Alternatively, double-tap the cell that contains the text you want to wrap and position the cursor where you want to insert the line break. Then, keep your finger pressed on the cursor, and in the menu that appears, tap on the New Line option to wrap the text at the exact point you indicated.
How to Wrap Text in an Excel Cell OpenOffice
If you are using OpenOffice or LibreOffice and you want to know how to wrap text in an Excel cell in OpenOffice or LibreOffice? No problem, it’s very simple.
Open the spreadsheet where you want to work in OpenOffice or LibreOffice, start typing in a cell, and then go to the menu Format > Cells. In the dialog window, go to the Alignment tab, check the option Wrap text automatically, and press OK.