How to Wrap Text in Excel? With 6 Simple Methods

(Note: This guide on how to wrap text in Excel is suitable for all versions including Office 365)

Microsoft Excel is designed primarily to store numbers. Sometimes, a large amount of text needs to be stored in spreadsheets. You have to make the column wider if the text is long and does not fit into a cell. Ideally, it is not the best way when you work with a large spreadsheet.

You can find this option in the Home tab’s ribbon. You find the Wrap Text option in the Alignment group. Select the text that you want to wrap and click on the Wrap Text button.

You’ll Learn:

• Method 1: Wrap Text from Ribbon
• Method 2: Wrap Text by Adjusting the Column Width
• Method 3: Wrap Text Using Keyboard Shortcut
• Method 4: Wrap Text Using the Format Cells Dialog Box
• Method 5: Automatically Adjust Column Width to Fit Text
• Method 6: Manually Add Line Breaks to Wrap the Text
• Remove Formatting
• Remove the Break Lines

Excel provides a better solution by wrapping text that exceeds a column width. If the text is too long to fit into a cell, Excel will adjust automatically the text to appear on multiple cells. This won’t change the data and no line break characters will be inserted. The wrapped data will appear on multiple lines.

By default, the cell’s column width is 8.09 points. You can increase the column width to accommodate the long sentence. You can wrap the text in Excel so that it fits within the cell by increasing the cell’s height.

In this article, we will learn how to wrap text so that it fits inside the cell of an Excel spreadsheet.

Method 1: Wrap Text in Excel from Ribbon

When you enter a long text in Excel, the text doesn’t cut off, rather it extends and occupies the cells next to it. 

Select the cell that has the text to wrap and then click on the Home tab. In the Alignment group, select the Wrap Text option in the ribbon. After the Wrap Text option is applied to the text, you find that the row height has adjusted to fit all the text.

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Method 2: Wrap Text by Adjusting the Column Width

Instead of adjusting the row height, you can adjust the width of the column by placing the cursor at the boundary of the cell and dragging it so that it accommodates the entire text. 

When you place the cursor on the cell, you see the symbol .  Drag it to the end of the text and notice that cell A has occupied more space to contain the text.

Method 3: Wrap Text Using Keyboard Shortcut

A simple method to wrap text in Excel is by pressing the Alt -> H -> W keys on your keyboard. The Alt keys are found on either side of your space bar. 

Method 4: Wrap Text Using the Format Cells Dialog Box

The Format Cells dialog box allows you to customize the look and feel of the table or the spreadsheet. Select the cell and right-click on it, you get a list of options to choose from. Choose Format Cells that contain the formatting options to apply on the cell in your spreadsheet, including the wrap text options.

Choose the Alignment tab from the Format Cells dialog box. In the text control section, check on the Wrap text checkbox and click OK.

You can also open this menu by selecting the cell and then right-click on it. You find the list from where you can choose the Format Cells option. Or, you can directly open the Format Cells dialog box by using the keyboard options. Press CTRL+1 and the dialog box opens.

In the Format Cells dialog box, there are also other formatting options available that you can choose and apply. You can adjust the border, font, and other modifications for the text.

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Method 5: Automatically Adjust Column Width to Fit Text

You can click and drag the row width but there’s an easy option to auto-adjust the width. If the row height does not adjust to fit all the text, then you can adjust the cell width to accommodate the text. It can be done by following these steps:

• Select the text that you wish to auto-adjust.
• Select the Home tab.
• Go to the Cells group.
• Click on the Format option.

In the Format option, there are options to set the row height and the column width. Choose the option AutoFit Column Width to adjust the cell width and extend it to fit the text.

Method 6: Manually Add Line Breaks to Wrap the Text

You can wrap the text in Excel to automatically fit into the cell by inserting line breaks into it. The text gets wrapped up based on the available width of the cell. You can add a line break character into the text and it will appear on two or more lines on the spreadsheet.

Select the text in the formula bar, place the cursor in the place where you want the line to break into a new line, and press ALT+ENTER.

Remove Formatting

The method to remove the formatting is as easy as applying it. Select the text from which you want to remove the formatting and then do any of the following methods.

• Press the Wrap Text button again on the Home tab.
• Go to the Format Cells menu and uncheck the Wrap text option in the Alignment tab.
• Press the Alt -> H -> W keys on the keyboard.

Remove the Break Lines

You can remove the line breaks that you have added to your text so that it wraps. You can do it by using the Find and Replace dialog box. On the spreadsheet, press CTRL+H to open the Find and Replace dialog box. 

Press CTRL+J in the Find what textbox to add a line break character. Then, leave the Replace with: textbox empty and then press the Replace All button. This removes the line break character that you have included in the text.

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Closing Thoughts

The function wrap text in Excel displays a long text on multiple lines in a single cell. Wrap Text inserts a line break either automatically or manually.

In this article, we saw how to wrap text automatically in Excel when it occupies the other cells too. All the methods are explained with an example that gives a clear picture of how to work with wrapped text. You can change the row height or the column width automatically or manually.

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Simon Calder

Chris “Simon” Calder was working as a Project Manager in IT for one of Los Angeles’ most prestigious cultural institutions, LACMA.He taught himself to use Microsoft Project from a giant textbook and hated every moment of it. Online learning was in its infancy then, but he spotted an opportunity and made an online MS Project course - the rest, as they say, is history!