How to Wrap Text in Excel (and Add Line Breaks in a Cell)
Type a long note or address into an Excel cell and it either spills across the cells next to it or gets chopped off. Wrap Text keeps everything neatly inside the cell by splitting it over several lines.
Wrap text in a cell
1. Select the cell or cells (click a column letter to select the whole column).
2. Go to the Home tab.
3. Click Wrap Text in the Alignment group.
2. Go to the Home tab.
3. Click Wrap Text in the Alignment group.
The text now wraps onto new lines to fit the column width, and the row gets taller to show it all. Make the column wider or narrower and the text re-wraps automatically.
Keyboard shortcut: On Windows, press Alt, then H, then W — one after another.
Click Wrap Text again to turn it off.
Start a new line exactly where you want
Wrap Text breaks lines wherever it runs out of space. If you want to choose where the line breaks — for example, putting each part of an address on its own line:
1. Double-click the cell (or press F2) to edit it.
2. Click where you want the new line.
3. Press Alt + Enter (on a Mac, Option + Return).
2. Click where you want the new line.
3. Press Alt + Enter (on a Mac, Option + Return).
Excel turns on Wrap Text for that cell automatically.
Tip: Pressing just Enter moves to the next cell — that's why you need Alt.
The row isn't getting taller
Sometimes the text wraps but the row stays the same height, so you only see the first line. This happens when the row height has been set by hand.
Fix it: Move your pointer to the bottom border of the row number (on the left) until it becomes a double arrow, then double-click. The row auto-fits to its contents.
For several rows at once, select them all first, then go to Home > Format > AutoFit Row Height.
Merged cells won't auto-fit
Excel can't auto-fit the height of a row that contains merged cells. Either drag the row height manually, or avoid merging — see our guide on Center Across Selection as an alternative.
Keep it on one line instead: Shrink to Fit
If you'd rather keep text on one line and make the font smaller to fit:
1. Select the cells.
2. Press Ctrl + 1 to open Format Cells.
3. On the Alignment tab, tick Shrink to fit.
4. Click OK.
2. Press Ctrl + 1 to open Format Cells.
3. On the Alignment tab, tick Shrink to fit.
4. Click OK.
Use this sparingly — long text can end up tiny.
Remove line breaks
To take out manual line breaks across a whole column:
1. Select the column.
2. Press Ctrl + H to open Find and Replace.
3. Click in Find what and press Ctrl + J (this enters an invisible line break character).
4. In Replace with, type a space.
5. Click Replace All.
2. Press Ctrl + H to open Find and Replace.
3. Click in Find what and press Ctrl + J (this enters an invisible line break character).
4. In Replace with, type a space.
5. Click Replace All.
Wrapping up
Home > Wrap Text for tidy cells, Alt + Enter for a line break exactly where you want it, and a double-click on the row border if the row doesn't grow.
