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I know about using Alt+Enter to add carriage returns to a cell, and they display fine at the top editing panel, but not within the cell itself.

If I turn on wrapping, it shows as multi line, but each line in the multi-line doesn't 'bleed' into the next column.

However, if I turn wrapping off, it stupidly becomes a single line of text. I want the best of both worlds, for it to display as multiline AND for the text to bleed over into the next column.

Is there a way to fix this?

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3 Answers 3

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However, if I turn wrapping off, it stupidly becomes a single line of text. I want the best of both worlds, for it to display as multiline AND for the text to bleed over into the next column.

Is there a way to fix this?

NO, there is no way to fix that.

You play around with merging cells and text wrapping together, however it'll never be an optimal solution.

Please keep in mind that Excel is a spreadsheet application designed to manage tabular data; and it is not a document editor.

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    That's a shame to hear. It's hard to imagine why anyone would usually prefer to see a multi-line conjoined into a single confusing line. Very strange decision of Microsoft, but it wouldn't be the first.
    – Twinbee
    Commented Apr 10, 2018 at 10:04
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    I can just repeat what I've written: Excel is a spreadsheet application with focus on data in tabular format. "Very strange decision of Microsoft," - that's their business decision, as this site is not related to Microsoft we can't know their reasons.
    – Máté Juhász
    Commented Apr 10, 2018 at 10:07
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    That's their decision, but it probably isn't the right one in practice and I'm sure most users would agree. I am perfectly free to express that opinion. Thank you for your answer anyway.
    – Twinbee
    Commented Apr 10, 2018 at 10:10
  • I'm with @Twinbee. Obviously Excel isn't a document editor, but this is internally inconsistent behavior. Without changing any formatting options for the cell (or anything else), just the addition of an Alt-Enter in the contents of the cell switches the cell from extending past to contained within. And it's no different 5 years later either. This is the second time in as many weeks that I've needed this behavior. The next cell may or may not be used, but needs to be visible on the screen in case it is (plus the other cells to the left), extending the column for the text isn't really an option.
    – rtillery
    Commented Apr 21, 2023 at 22:17
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Adjust the row height to make all wrapped text visible Select the cell or range for which you want to adjust the row height.

On the Home tab, in the Cells group, click Format.

Under Cell Size, do one of the following:

To automatically adjust the row height, click AutoFit Row Height.

To specify a row height, click Row Height, and then type the row height that you want in the Row height box.

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  • Using your technique, I still can't obtain multiple individual lines (with carriage returns) that don't wrap.
    – Twinbee
    Commented Nov 28, 2021 at 19:13
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i had a text (of say 300 charcters) in a1 which came across a1..i10 to spread to multiple rows (a1,a2...10) this is what i did.

highlight the area (for example a2…c4, assuming your data is in single cell but extended upto a1 to i10)

home --> fill -->justify-->ok

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