How to Wrap Text in Excel

Make long text show on several lines inside a single cell instead of spilling over or getting cut off — with the button, the keyboard shortcut, manual line breaks, and fixes for when wrap text won't behave.

The quick answer: select the cells and click Home → Wrap Text, or press Alt + H + W. The text now shows on multiple lines inside the cell instead of spilling into the next one or getting clipped. Here are the details, plus the two reasons it sometimes doesn't work.

Wrap text with the button

Select the cell or range, go to the Home tab, and click Wrap Text (in the Alignment group). Excel breaks the text across as many lines as it needs and grows the row height to fit. Click it again to turn wrapping off — it's a toggle.

The keyboard shortcut

On Windows, Alt + H + W does the same thing without reaching for the mouse. On Mac there's no single dedicated shortcut, so use the button on the Home tab.

Add a line break exactly where you want it

Automatic wrapping breaks lines wherever they happen to fit. To control it — say, a name on one line and a title on the next in the same cell — double-click into the cell and press Alt + Enter (Windows) or Ctrl + Option + Enter (Mac) at the break point.

If wrap text isn't working

• Merged cells. Wrapping behaves unreliably inside merged cells. Unmerge them (Home → Merge & Center, toggled off) and wrap the single cell instead.
• Fixed row height. If the row height was set manually, it won't grow to show the wrapped lines. Right-click the row number and choose AutoFit Row Height.

Frequently asked questions