Technology

A Simple and Easy Guide to Line Breaks in Excel and Google Sheets

It's surprising how many users struggle with the simple task of line breaks in Excel. However, it's actually quite straightforward to do.

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28 December, 2023

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Therefore, in the following article, FPT Shop will guide you on the simplest and easiest ways to wrap text in Excel.

1. How to Wrap Text in Excel

1.1. Using the Alt + Enter keyboard shortcut

This is a method that many people choose to use when they want to wrap text in Excel because it is extremely simple to use. Unlike Word, if you just press Enter when entering data in an Excel spreadsheet, the cursor will jump to the cell below instead of going to a new line in the current cell. Therefore, you need to use the Alt + Enter keyboard shortcut to wrap text in Excel.

The process is very simple: Place the cursor right after the word you want to wrap and press Alt + Enter. The cursor will automatically go to a new line within the cell, allowing you to continue entering data. You can see the image for a clearer demonstration of this process.

Place the cursor at the desired position for line break. In the example above, it is after the word “Pro”

Note: If you are using a MacBook, the keyboard shortcut will be Command + Enter.

1.2. Wrapping text in Excel using the Wrap Text feature

Wrap Text is a utility that prevents text from overflowing into the right edge of the cell. When you click on this icon, depending on the width of the cell, Wrap Text will automatically adjust and wrap the text to a new line.

Using Wrap Text to wrap text in Excel is quite simple. You just need to follow these two steps:

Step 1: Select the range of data you want to modify.

Step 2: Click on Wrap Text on the toolbar and check the result.

1.3. Wrapping text in Excel using Find & Replace

You can also wrap text in Excel using the Find & Replace tool. Follow these steps:

Step 1: Select the range of data you want to perform the line break on. Then, left-click on Find & Replace at the top right corner of Excel, and select Replace.

Step 2: In the Find what box, enter a space. Next, left-click on the Replace box, then press the Ctrl+J keyboard shortcut and select Replace All.

Step 3: Check the result.

1.4. Wrapping text in Excel using Justify

When using the Justify feature to wrap text in Excel, you don’t have to align the cell anymore. However, this method is more complex compared to the previously mentioned methods.

Step 1: Select the range of data you want to wrap, then left-click on Format in the top right corner, and select Format Cells…

Step 2:: In the Format Cells dialog box that appears, select the Alignment tab. In the Horizontal alignment box, select Justify, then click OK.

Step 3: Check the result.

2. How to Wrap Text in Google Sheets

2.1. Using Alt+Enter keyboard shortcut

Just like in Excel, you can wrap text in Google Sheets using the Alt+Enter keyboard shortcut. Follow these steps:

Step 1: Select the position where you want to wrap the text in the data cell of Google Sheets, then press the Alt+Enter keyboard shortcut.

Step 2: The result will be as shown below.

2.2. Using Text Wrapping

You can also use the Text Wrapping tool to wrap text in the Google Sheets spreadsheet. Follow these steps:

Step 1: Select the cell you want to wrap, then choose Text Wrapping -> Wrap.

Step 2: Check the result.

3. How to Fix Text Not Wrapping in Excel

Sometimes, you may encounter a situation where you have used one of the above methods to wrap text in Excel, but it does not work. This error may occur due to incorrect formatting settings. Therefore, you should check and reset the settings by following these steps:

Step 1: Open Excel and click File.

Step 2: Select Options -> Advanced.

Step 3: In the After pressing Enter section, select Down under Direction, then click OK to finish.

Conclusion

As you can see, the methods FPT Shop just shared for wrapping text in Excel are very simple, and anyone can easily carry them out. If you find this article helpful, don’t forget to share it with others.