New Line In Cell Microsoft Excel For Mac

Starting a New Line within the same Excel Cell has puzzled many Excel users. You will find below the wrong and the right way to Start New Line in Excel Cell.

The answer is to use Control+Option+Enter, which will create a line break in the cell. As an alternative, Control+Command+Enter can also be used to achieve the same. These combinations work both in Excel for Mac 2011 and the new Excel for Mac 2015. As pointed out by Shameer in this answer, Alt+Enter now seems to work as well in the new Excel for Mac 2015. So, many times we want to write in a cell with a new line. We try to hit ENTER key but cursor moves to a new cell instead of entering a New Line In Excel Cell. So how to add lines in excel cell or say an add line break in excel cell? Just hit ALT+ENTER within a cell. Just enable the Wrap Text to see the new lines. For Windows only. Nov 08, 2014  Here is one of the simple things that just makes life better. Typing a new line within a cell in Excel. Very useful for many reasons but essentially i am talking about the option to write, for example, an mailing address, where the first line is the name of the place, second line is the street address and third line is city and zip code.

Start New line in Excel Cell

In case you haven’t yet tried it, try entering 2 lines of text, one below the other into the same Excel Cell.

1. Place the curser into any Cell in Excel and type This is my first line.

2. Now the task is to enter the second Line (This My Second Line) below the first line in the same Excel Cell.

If you are like most users, you will hit the Enter Key to move to the second line. However, pressing the Enter key will land you in another cell (B3), instead of keeping you in another line in the same cell B2.

Excel

As you can see in above image, the cursor has moved to Cell B3, instead of remaining in the same Cell B2, where you were trying to enter the second line of text.

So, let us move ahead and take a look at the wrong and right way to start a New Line in the same Excel Cell.

1. Wrong Way to Start New Line in Same Excel Cell

It is possible to fit 2 lines of text within a single Excel Cell by using the ‘Text Wrap’ function.

1. Type This My First Line in Cell B2.

2. Press the Space Key on the keyboard of your computer and enter This is my second line in the same Excel Cell (B2).

3. Now, click on the Wrap Text button and you will see the two lines of text within the same Excel Cell.

While it is possible to Fit 2 lines in Single Excel Cell using the Wrap Function, it is not the right way to Start New Line in the Same Excel Cell.

Change Lines In Excel Cell

To understand this, increase the width of Cell B2 and you will see the second line merging with the First line.

Now, if you decrease the width of Cell B2, you won’t find the Second Line going back to its original position (One line below another).

This method loses line breaks, whenever the cell width is adjusted and you will end up losing all your work.

New Line In Cell Microsoft Excel For Mac Pro

2. Right Way to Start New line in Excel Cell

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The right way to start New Line in Excel Cell is to use ALT + Enter Keyboard Shortcut.

New Line In Cell Microsoft Excel For Mac Free

This keyboard trick will actually bring the Curser below the first line, allowing you to start the second line.

Also, the line break will always remain in place and it will not go away when you adjust the width of the Cell.

1. Type This is My First Line in Cell B2.

2. Next, press the ALT Key on the keyboard of your computer and hit the Enter Key. This will place the Curser right below the first line within the same Cell.

3. Now, you can type This is My Second Line.

As simple as that – You now have 2 lines (one below the other) in a Single Excel Cell.

New Line In Cell Microsoft Excel For Mac

New Line In Cell Microsoft Excel For Mac Free

Now, try to increase the width of Cell and you will once again see the lines merging. However, the line break will still be there and it will not go away.

New Line In Cell Microsoft Excel For Mac 2017

You will always be able to bring the Second Line below the First one by adjusting the width of the Cell.

Microsoft Excel For Mac Support

In case required, you can use this method to start multiple lines in the same Excel Cell and all the line breaks will always stay in place.