How to Overline Text in Excel (4 Method)

Method 1 – Using the Accent Option

• Click the Insert tab.
• Click on Symbols followed by Equation.

• Choose Accent and select Bar.

• A text box with a Bar on the top will appear.

• Enter your desired text in the text box. The bar will appear over the text.

• Drag the text box to your desired cell and adjust its size.
• You’ll get overlined text in the cell.

Method 2 – Combining REPT, LEN, and CHAR Functions

• Insert a column named Overlined Text.
• Select the entire column and turn on Wrap Text from the Home tab.

• Enter the following formula in cell D5:

• CHAR(10) adds a line break in the cell.
• LEN(C5) returns the number of characters in a text string. It will return 8 in this case.
• REPT(“_”,LEN(C5))&CHAR(10)&C5 repeats the “_” symbol 8 times as the number of characters is 8 in cell C5.

• Press Enter to create overlined text.

• AutoFill the formula to the other cells in column D.

Method 3 – Using Keyboard Shortcuts

• Enter “_” before the text in your desired cell.
• Repeat the symbol for each character you want to overline.

• Keep the cursor between the symbols and text.
• Press Alt+Enter to add a line break.

Method 4 – Insert Shapes Feature to Overline Text in Excel

• Go to the Insert tab.
• Click on Shapes followed by Lines

• Use your mouse to draw a line above the text.

• Customize the line color and width.

• Adjust the cell height to make the overlined text visible.
• Ensure proper cell references for desired results.

Download Practice Workbook

You can download the practice workbook from here:

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