We’re well used to Word wrapping text automatically at the end of a line, moving seamlessly onto the next row. However, because it’s not a word processor, Excel doesn’t do that naturally, but we can tell it to do so – either automatically or by putting the breaks between lines in ourselves… here’s how
Automatic wrapping
Excel will allow us to wrap text within a cell by using the Wrap text button on the Home tab
By default, any text wider than the column will flow over (but not into) the cell to its left. However, by using the Wrap Text button we can tell Excel to wrap the text within the cell based on the width of the column (you may need to deepen the row to see all of the wrapped text). If the column is then widened or narrowed, the text adjusts automatically.
If the column is then widened or narrowed, the text adjusts, again automatically.
But what if you want the text to be wrapped in a certain way, for example: “a long piece” on one line and “of text” on the next?
Manually wrapping text
To specify exactly how Excel should wrap your text, then within the cell, where you want the Line Break to be, you need to use the ALT+ENTER keys
Once you’ve put in your line break, you’ll need to press ENTER again for Excel to accept the input. However, the result (evem without Wrap text engaged might not be quite what you’re expecting.
However, widen the column slightly by clicking & dragging on the divider between the columns…
And we have the expected result…
Benefits of wrapping text in headings
Of course, in addition to this being a neat little feature, it means that headings for tables of data can now appear to be on more than one row, whilst actually being on a single row which means that filters, sorts, etc will use the full column description.
There’s a further benefit to the ALT+Enter idea, but I’ll cover that next month!