It’s easy to think that Excel cells only contain one line of text each. But in fact, you can add multiple lines. Let’s learn how to add a new line in Microsoft Excel.
How to Add a New Line in Excel
Suppose you’re typing someone’s first and last name into a single cell in Excel. By default, they’ll appear side by side:
John Smith
But you might want it to read:
John
Smith
Of course, you could always hit Enter and simply type the last name into the cell immediately below. But in many cases, you’ll want both words in the same cell.
To add a new line in Excel, begin by simply typing in the first word or characters in your sequence. In this case, you’ll type John into cell A1.
Now, it’s time to deploy a quick keyboard shortcut. If you’re on Mac, press Control > Option > Return on your keyboard simultaneously. (On Windows, use Alt + Enter). You’ll see your cursor immediately jump below the word you typed, and from here, you can finish the name.
But notice that you’re not in a new cell. You’ve added a new line to a single cell. You can do this as many times as you’d like. It’s an easy way to format your Excel data differently, without spilling into adjacent cells.
On occasion, you may find that your data still appears in a single cell. Fortunately, this is easy to fix. It’s driven by the way Excel typically displays data within cells. If you find yourself in this situation, go to the Home tab on Excel’s ribbon. Near the middle, you’ll see the Wrap Text command.
If you’re having an issue, be sure this is enabled. Once it is, your text will appear on a new line as intended. As you can see, it’s easy to add new lines in Excel to format your data exactly as you want it.
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