We all have been in a situation where each time we enter lengthy text in Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets, it either overflows toward the adjacent cell (s) or gets cut off at the cell border. This makes it harder to present your information clearly and comprehensively. To address this issue, we have come up with numerous methods that will help you wrap the text in Excel and Google Sheets.
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What Is Wrap Text in Excel and Google Sheets
Wrapping text allows you to display long or multi-line text within a single cell, making it easier to read. As you can see from the below screenshot, when the data input inside the cell is larger, it spills over to neighboring cells and also gets trimmed.
Whereas, when we use the wrap text feature, it fully displays longer text in a cell.
But the question is, why would you use the Wrap Text tool when you can simply widen the column? Well, the thing is, when you work on a large worksheet with a lot of data, it becomes harder to maintain readability and a clear overview of the information. In such a scenario, wrapping the text is an optimal solution.
How to Wrap Text in Excel
If you’re an Excel user, you will be glad to hear that there are many ways to wrap text inside the cell and you can go with whichever method you find convenient.
1. Using the Keyboard Shortcut
To wrap text in Excel, simply select the cell (s) and press Alt + H + W from your keyboard. This will instantly adjust the text inside the cell.
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2. From Home Tab
If you’re likely to forget the keyboard shortcut, don’t worry. You can easily wrap the text from your Excel Home tab.
In the middle of the Ribbon, you will find an option named Wrap Text. Simply click on it, and it will wrap the text in the cell.
3. Manually Wrap the Text
The problem with automatic wrapping is that you don’t get control over the line breaks, and this can often make your workbook look messy or poorly formatted. Thus, manually wrapping text allows you to control where line breaks occur in a more precise manner. To add a line breaker, just press the Alt + Enter from your keyboard and it will auto-adjust the row height.
Tip: Learn how to export Android contacts to Excel.
4. From Format Cells
The above methods would be more than enough for you. However, if you’re interested in learning another trick for wrapping text in Excel, follow the guide below:
1. Open the Excel file and press Ctrl + 1 to open Format Cells.
2. From there, go to the Alignment tab and check the box next to the Wrap text.
3. After that, hit the OK button and your text will be wrapped inside the cell.
Wrap Text is not working in Excel
If your text isn’t automatically wrapping, it’s possible that the row height has been manually adjusted by you or someone else. In that case, you can just click on the Format button (under the Home tab) and select the AutoFit Row Height option.
As you can see, it has fixed the problem of text not wrapping correctly in your Excel.
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How to Wrap Text in Google Sheets
Similar to Microsoft Excel, text wrapping in Google Sheets is also a straightforward process. Here’s a list of methods we have come up with:
1. From Toolbar
One of the simplest methods to wrap text in Google Sheets is by clicking on the Text Wrapping button (two parallel lines with an arrow) and then selecting the Wrap option (two parallel lines with a curved arrow).
This action will automatically wrap the text within the chosen cell (s).
Tip: Learn how to import tables from websites to Google Sheets.
2. From Format Tab
If you’re unable to find the Wrap button from the toolbar, you can also wrap the text by navigating to Format > Wrapping > Wrap.
3. Manually Wrap the Text
Similar to Excel, here too you can use the Alt + Enter shortcut to manually insert a line break in a text.
Fitting Words Into Cells in Excel and Google Sheets
Text spilling over to the next column is a common problem on any spreadsheet. Fortunately, every popular spreadsheet app, such as Google Sheets and Excel, includes a dedicated tool that can wrap text within cells in an instant. We hope one of the above methods helps you with text wrapping.
