How to wrap text in Microsoft Excel in 2 ways, to make sure that all of your data is visible

Publish date: 2024-07-26
2019-11-12T17:30:00Z

Wrapping text in an Excel cell makes it easier to view all of the data in that cell. A wrapped cell expands as you type into it, so it will always fit everything you type. 

Wrapping text isn't the default option in Microsoft Excel, but it's a simple adjustment to make. There are two ways to wrap text in Excel — you can either edit the settings to wrap text automatically or you can manually enter line breaks. 

Note, however, that you may have to adjust the row height, to ensure that all your text is visible. 

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How to wrap text in Excel automatically

1. Open Excel on your Mac or PC and select the cells that you want to format.

2. Select the "Home" tab, then find the wrap text icon and click "Wrap Text."

You can wrap the text in cells with just a single click. William Antonelli/Business Insider

3. Alternatively, you can select "Format" from the menu at the top, hit "Cells" and then select "Wrap Text" under the "Alignment" tab.

If you prefer to use this menu, you'll find text wrapping in the "Alignment" tab. William Antonelli/Business Insider

4. Note that the size of the cell impacts the text that you see. For example, if you change the width of the cell, the data wrapping will automatically adjust to fit the new space.

The wrapped text won't overflow into other cells. William Antonelli/Business Insider

If your wrapped text isn't all visible, it could be because the row is set to a specific height that can't accommodate the amount of text, or that the text is in a range of cells that's been merged.

Here's how to adjust the height of a cell:

1. Select the cell or cells that you want to adjust the row height of.

2. Select the "Format" tab, then select "Height."

3. From there, you can either:

AutoFit is usually the best solution. William Antonelli/Business Insider

How to wrap text in Excel manually with line breaks

1. To manually break up the text to move it onto another line, first double click on the cell, in the spot where you want to make the line break.

2. Once in the cell, click on the location where you want to make the line break and hit "Alt + Enter." This will move the text down one line.

3. Once you click out of the cell, the text will wrap.

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Kelly Laffey

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