In Word, type the lines of text in a single column anywhere in the document. Then, select the lines of text and click the Page Layout tab. In the Page Setup options, click Columns and select the desired number of columns.
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In Word 2008 for Mac, you can format text in your documents in columns, lists, and text boxes. Columns let you display your text in multiple newspaper-like columns, instead of a single 6-inch wide block. Lists are numbered or bulleted lists that Word formats automatically. Text boxes let you put independent blocks of text anywhere on the page without having to bother with margins, indents, columns, or tables first.
Columns: The easiest way to create a document with multiple columns is to click the Columns button on the Standard toolbar and select the number of columns you want.
If you select part of the document before you use the Columns button, only that part is displayed as columns; if you don’t select any text before you use the Columns button, the entire document is displayed as columns.
For finer control over the number and spacing of your columns, or to have Word place a vertical line between them, choose Format→Columns to open the Columns dialog.
Lists: Numbered lists are typically used for presenting information that requires a chronological order, such as how-to steps; bulleted lists organize a set of separate but related concepts. To add a list, select the text you want to turn into a list. Choose View→Formatting Palette and then click the disclosure triangle to expand the Bullets and Numbering panel. Click the Bullets or Numbering button to turn the selected text into a list.
Text boxes: Text boxes let you place a chunk of text somewhere on a page without setting margins, indents, columns, or tables. To place a text box in your document, choose Insert→Text Box. Your cursor turns into a special text box placing cursor. Then click and drag in the document where you want the text box to appear.
To control the way text in your document interacts with your text box — known as wrapping — choose View→Formatting Palette and click the right-pointing arrows next to Wrapping and then next to Text Box to disclose both the Wrapping and Text Box panels.
This tutorial shows how to wrap text in a cell automatically and how to insert a line break manually. You will also learn the most common reasons for Excel wrap text not working and how to fix it.
Primarily, Microsoft Excel is designed to calculate and manipulate numbers. However, you may often find yourself in situations when, in addition to numbers, large amounts of text need to be stored in spreadsheets. In case longer text does not fit neatly in a cell, you can of course proceed with the most obvious way and simply make the column wider. However, it's not really an option when you work with a large worksheet that has a lot of data to display.
A much better solution is to wrap text that exceeds a column width, and Microsoft Excel provides a couple of ways to do it. This tutorial will introduce you to the Excel wrap text feature and share a few tips to use it wisely.
What is wrap text in Excel?
When the data input in a cell is too large fit in it, one of the following two things happens:
- If columns to the right are empty, a long text string extends over the cell border into those columns.
- If an adjacent cell to the right contains any data, a text string is cut off at the cell border.
The screenshot below shows two cases:
The Excel wrap text feature can help you fully display longer text in a cell without it overflowing to other cells. 'Wrapping text' means displaying the cell contents on multiple lines, rather than one long line. This will allow you to avoid the 'truncated column' effect, make the text easier to read and better fit for printing. In addition, it will help you keep the column width consistent throughout the entire worksheet.
The following screenshot shows how wrapped text looks like in Excel:
How to wrap text in Excel automatically
To force a lengthy text string to appear on multiple lines, select the cell(s) that you want to format, and turn on the Excel text wrap feature by using one of the following methods.
Method 1. Go to the Home tab > Alignment group, and click the Wrap Text button:
Method 2. Press Ctrl + 1 to open the Format Cells dialog (or right-click the selected cells and then click Format Cells…), switch to the Alignment tab, select the Wrap Text checkbox, and click OK.
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Compared to the first method, this one takes a couple of extra clicks, but it may save time in case you wish to make a few changes in cell formatting at a time, wrapping text being one of those changes.
Result. Whichever method you use, the data in the selected cells wraps to fit the column width. If you change the column width, text wrapping will adjust automatically. The following screenshot shows a possible result:
How to unwrap text in Excel
As you can easily guess, the two methods described above are also used to unwrap text.
The fastest way is to select the cell(s) and click the Wrap Text button (Home tab > Alignment group) to toggle text wrapping off.
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Alternatively, press the Ctrl + 1 shortcut to open the Format Cells dialog and clear the Wrap text checkbox on the Alignment tab.
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How to insert a line break manually
Sometimes you may want to start a new line at a specific position rather than have lengthy text wrap automatically. To enter a line break manually, just do the following:
- Enter cell edit mode by pressing F2 or double-clicking the cell or clicking in the formula bar.
- Put the cursor where you want to break the line, and press the Alt+Enter shortcut (e. press the Alt key and while holding it down, press the Enter key).
Result. Inserting a manual line break turns on the Wrap Text option automatically. However, the line breaks entered manually will stick in place when the column is made wider. If you turn off text wrapping, the data displays in one line in a cell, but the inserted line breaks are visible in the formula bar. The following screenshot demonstrates both scenarios (a line break in entered after the word 'owl'):
Excel wrap text not working
As one of the most often used features in Excel, Warp Text was designed as simple as possible and you will hardly have any problems using it in your worksheets. If text wrapping does not work as expected, check out the following troubleshooting tips.
1. Fixed row height
If not all wrapped text is visible in a cell, most likely the row is set to a certain height. To fix this, select the problematic cell, go to the Home tab > Cells group, and click Format > AutoFit Row Height:
Or, you can set a specific row height by clicking Row Height… and then typing the desired number in the Row height box. A fixed row height comes in especially handy to control the way the table headers are displayed.
2. Merged cells
Excel's Wrap Text does not work for merged cells, so you will have to decide which feature is more important for a particular sheet. If you keep the merged cells, you can display the full text by making the column(s) wider. If you opt for Wrap Text, then unmerge cells by clicking the Merge & Center button on the Home tab, in the Alignment group:
3. The cell is wide enough to display its value
If you try to wrap a cell(s) that is already wide enough to display its contents, nothing will happen, even if later on the column is resized and becomes too narrow to fit longer entries. To force the text to wrap, toggle the Excel Wrap Text button off and on again.
This is how you wrap text in Excel to display longer text on multiple lines. I thank you for reading and hope to see you on our blog next week!