The quickest way: Alt+Enter on Windows, Control+Option+Enter on Mac

To move text to a new line inside the same cell in Excel, hold Alt and press Enter (Windows), or hold Control and Option and press Enter (Mac). The cursor jumps to the next line within that cell instead of moving to the next cell down. This is called a line break or soft return.

You can add as many line breaks as you need in a single cell. Each time you use the keyboard shortcut, the text wraps to a new line within the same cell boundaries. Excel automatically expands the row height to show all the text, or you can manually adjust it by dragging the row border.

Key Takeaways

  • Alt+Enter (Windows) or Control+Option+Enter (Mac) creates a line break inside a cell without moving to the next cell.
  • Excel expands the row height automatically to fit wrapped text, but you can also adjust it manually.
  • Line breaks work in any cell where you type or edit text, including cells with formulas that produce text output.
  • If text appears cut off, turn on text wrapping in the Format menu to see all lines at once.

When you need to see all the text at once

If you add line breaks but the text still looks cut off or squeezed, Excel may not have expanded the row height enough. You can fix this by enabling text wrapping. Click the cell or select multiple cells, then go to the Home tab, find the Alignment group, and click Wrap Text. The row height adjusts automatically to show every line.

Text wrapping and line breaks work together. A line break forces text to a new line at a specific point you choose. Text wrapping forces text to a new line when it reaches the edge of the column. You can use both in the same cell — the line breaks you created with Alt+Enter stay in place, and any remaining text wraps at the column edge.

Adjusting row height manually

If you prefer to control the exact height of a row, you can drag the border between row numbers on the left side of the spreadsheet. Position your cursor on the line between two row numbers until it changes to a resize arrow, then drag up or down. This works whether or not text wrapping is turned on.

You can also right-click the row number, select Row Height, and type a specific measurement in inches or centimeters. Excel measures row height from the top of the row to the bottom, so a taller number means more space for text. If you set the height too small for the text inside, some lines will be hidden — increasing the height again will reveal them.

Line breaks in formulas and pasted text

If you use a formula to combine text from multiple cells, you can add a line break inside the formula using the CHAR(10) function. For example, =A1&CHAR(10)&B1 combines the text in A1 and B1 with a line break between them. The result appears on two lines within a single cell.

When you paste text from another program (like a word processor or email), it may already contain line breaks. Excel preserves those breaks and displays the text on multiple lines within the cell. If the pasted text looks like it is all on one line, turn on text wrapping to see the breaks that are already there.

Removing line breaks you no longer need

To delete a line break, click inside the cell to enter edit mode, position your cursor at the end of the line you want to remove the break from, and press Delete. This removes the line break and pulls the next line up. You can also select the entire cell content and retype it without the breaks.

If you want to remove all line breaks from multiple cells at once, use Find & Replace. Press Ctrl+H (Windows) or Command+H (Mac) to open Find & Replace. In the Find field, press Ctrl+J (Windows) or Control+J (Mac) to insert a line break character. Leave the Replace field empty and click Replace All. This removes every line break in the selected cells.

Differences between line breaks and pressing Enter

Pressing Enter alone moves you to the next cell down — it does not create a line break within the current cell. This is why the Alt+Enter combination exists. If you press Enter by itself while editing a cell, Excel saves what you typed and moves the cursor to the cell below.

In some spreadsheet programs (like Google Sheets), the keyboard shortcut is different. Google Sheets uses Ctrl+Enter (Windows) or Command+Enter (Mac) for line breaks. If you switch between Excel and other spreadsheet tools, remember that the shortcuts are not the same.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my text disappear when I add a line break?

The text is still there, but the row may not be tall enough to show it. Turn on text wrapping (Home tab, Alignment group, Wrap Text) or manually drag the row border down to make more space. If text is still hidden, increase the row height further.

Can I add a line break in a cell that contains a formula?

Yes. Use the CHAR(10) function inside the formula to create a line break. For example, =A1&CHAR(10)&"text" combines A1 with the word "text" on a new line. The cell must have text wrapping turned on to display both lines.

What is the difference between a line break and text wrapping?

A line break is a specific point where you force text to a new line using Alt+Enter. Text wrapping automatically moves text to a new line when it reaches the column edge. You can use both together — line breaks stay in place, and remaining text wraps at the column boundary.

Does the line break keyboard shortcut work the same in all versions of Excel?

Alt+Enter works in Excel for Windows on all recent versions. On Mac, use Control+Option+Enter. The shortcut is the same whether you use Excel on a desktop or the web version, though the web version may behave slightly differently with row height.