Add a line break inside a cell by pressing Alt+Enter

To put text on a second line within the same Excel cell, press Alt+Enter on Windows or Control+Option+Enter on Mac while you are typing or editing the cell. The cursor will move to a new line inside that cell instead of moving to the next cell down.

This works whether you are typing new text or editing text that is already in the cell. Double-click the cell to enter edit mode, position your cursor where you want the break, then press the key combination. When you press Enter alone, Excel moves to the next cell — Alt+Enter keeps you in the same cell and creates the line break you need.

Key Takeaways

  • Press Alt+Enter (Windows) or Control+Option+Enter (Mac) to create a line break inside a cell without moving to the next cell.
  • You must double-click the cell or press F2 to enter edit mode before the key combination will work.
  • Cells with line breaks automatically expand in height to show all the text, or you can manually adjust row height.
  • Text wrapping and line breaks are different — text wrapping happens automatically when text is too wide, while line breaks let you control exactly where the break occurs.
  • Line breaks work in all versions of Excel, including Excel Online, though the keyboard shortcut differs slightly on Mac.

Enter edit mode before pressing the key combination

The Alt+Enter shortcut only works when the cell is in edit mode. If you just click a cell once and start typing, you are in entry mode, not edit mode, and Alt+Enter will not create a line break — it will just move you to the next cell.

To enter edit mode, either double-click the cell or press F2 while the cell is selected. You will see the cursor blinking inside the cell, and the formula bar at the top will show the cell's contents with an active cursor. Now you can position your cursor exactly where you want the break and press Alt+Enter.

Position your cursor at the exact spot where you want the break

Click inside the cell text to place your cursor right before the word or character where you want the new line to start. If you are typing new text, just press Alt+Enter when you reach the point where you want to break to the next line.

For example, if a cell contains "John Smith" and you want "John" on the first line and "Smith" on the second, double-click the cell, click between the "n" and the space, then press Alt+Enter. The text will split across two lines within that single cell.

Adjust row height to see all the text

When you add a line break, Excel usually expands the row height automatically so you can see both lines. If the row does not expand on its own, you can manually increase the height by positioning your cursor on the border between two row numbers on the left side of the spreadsheet, then dragging down.

You can also right-click the row number, select "Row Height," and type a larger number. A typical row is 15 points tall; adding one line break usually requires 25 to 30 points. If you have multiple line breaks in one cell, you may need 40 or 50 points to see everything clearly.

Understand the difference between line breaks and text wrapping

Text wrapping is automatic — when text is too wide for the column, Excel breaks it into multiple lines. You turn it on through the Home tab under Alignment, or by right-clicking and choosing "Format Cells." Text wrapping breaks wherever it needs to fit the column width, and the breaks shift if you resize the column.

Line breaks are manual and fixed. You control exactly where each break happens by pressing Alt+Enter, and the breaks stay in the same place even if you resize the column. You can use both together: add manual line breaks where you want them, then turn on text wrapping to handle any remaining text that does not fit the column width.

Remove a line break by deleting it in edit mode

To remove a line break you no longer want, double-click the cell to enter edit mode, position your cursor right after the line break (at the start of the second line), then press Backspace. This deletes the line break and pulls the second line back up to the first line.

If a cell has multiple line breaks and you want to remove all of them at once, the fastest way is to copy the cell, paste it into a text editor like Notepad, copy it again, then paste it back into Excel using Paste Special and selecting "Unformatted Text." This strips out all the line breaks in one step.

Line breaks work differently in Excel Online

Excel Online (the browser version) supports line breaks, but the keyboard shortcut is different. Instead of Alt+Enter, press Ctrl+Enter on Windows or Control+Enter on Mac. The process is the same — double-click to edit, position your cursor, then press the shortcut — but the key combination changes.

If you create a spreadsheet in desktop Excel with line breaks and then open it in Excel Online, the line breaks will display correctly. You can also add new line breaks in Excel Online using the Ctrl+Enter shortcut, and they will appear the same way when you open the file in desktop Excel later.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Alt+Enter move me to the next cell instead of creating a line break?

You are probably not in edit mode. Click the cell once to select it, then press F2 or double-click to enter edit mode. The cursor should be blinking inside the cell. Now Alt+Enter will create a line break instead of moving down.

Can I add a line break in the formula bar instead of in the cell?

Yes. Click in the formula bar at the top of the screen where the cell contents are displayed, position your cursor where you want the break, then press Alt+Enter. This works the same way as editing inside the cell itself.

What if I want to delete all line breaks from a cell at once?

Copy the cell, open Notepad or another plain text editor, paste it there, copy it again, then go back to Excel and use Paste Special (Ctrl+Shift+V) with "Unformatted Text" selected. This removes all line breaks in one action.

Do line breaks affect how Excel sorts or filters data?

No. Excel treats a cell with line breaks the same way it treats a cell without them for sorting and filtering purposes. The line break is just formatting — it does not change the actual data or how Excel processes it.

Can I see line breaks in a cell without expanding the row height?

Not really. If the row is too short, you will only see the first line of text. You must increase the row height to see all the lines. You can also click the cell and read the full contents in the formula bar at the top, which shows all text regardless of row height.