How to Insert Line Break in Excel? (Add New line and Remove)

Are you interested in learning about line break in Excel? Line breaks are often used to display data in multiple lines within a single cell, making it easier to organize and read information. Address formatting, mailing labels, importing or exporting CSV files, etc. are the most common situations where we need to insert a line break in an Excel cell.

In this article, we will present a keyboard shortcut and the Wrap Text feature in Excel to add a line break. You can use these methods to quickly add a new line without using a formula.

We can apply formulas using the CHAR function and Ampersand (&) operator, CONCATENATE, or TEXTJOIN functions to add line breaks in a cell. These formulas are useful when we have to combine multiple cells with a line break.

We can also add line breaks after specific characters in Excel. We can use the Find and Replace feature for this. This feature can remove line breaks as well.

While preparing this article, we used Excel 365 for our calculations. However, except for the TEXTJOIN function, you can find all the features and functions in Excel 2010 and newer versions. The TEXTJOIN function is available in Excel 2019 and newer versions.

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Line Break.xlsx

How to Add Line Break in Excel Without Formula?

There are two methods available for adding a line break without a formula: using a keyboard shortcut and applying the Wrap Text feature.

What Is the Keyboard Shortcut to Manually Add Line Break in Excel?

To manually add line breaks with keyboard shortcuts, follow the steps below:

Double-click on the cell >> place the cursor in the required position >> press the Alt + Enter keys simultaneously to enter a new line.

We have to manually repeat this process for the remaining cells.
Double-click on the row bar of a cell to adjust the row height and view all the lines.

How to Apply Wrap Text Feature to Add New Line in Excel?

The Wrap Text feature adds new lines with a single click. Learn the steps to know how you can do that.

Select the range C5:C10 >> click on the Wrap Text feature.

Afterward, double-click on the row bar of the cells to adjust the row heights.

However, since new lines are added based on the existing column widths, we may not always get our required format while applying the Wrap Text feature.

Read More: Do a Line Break

How to Add Line Break in Excel with Formula?

We can combine the CHAR function with other operators or functions to add line breaks with a formula in Excel Cells. Here are 3 methods with required formulas.

How to Combine Ampersand (&) Operator and CHAR Function to Add New Line While Joining Cells?

Follow the steps below to add line breaks using the Ampersand operator and CHAR function while joining different cells.

Insert the following formula in cell E5 >> press the Enter key >> drag down the Fill Handle icon >> double-click on the row bars to adjust row heights.

=B5&CHAR(10)&C5&CHAR(10)&D5

Here, the Ampersand (&) operator is used for concatenating the cell contents and the CHAR function is used for inserting a line break.

How to Apply CONCATENATE and CHAR Functions for Line Breaks While Combining Cells?

When we join different cells, we can insert line breaks. Let’s see how:

In cell E5, type in the following formula >> press the Enter key >> use the Fill Handle tool >> double-click on the row bars to adjust the row heights.

=CONCATENATE(B5,CHAR(10),C5,CHAR(10),D5)

Here, the CONCATENATE function is used for joining the cell contents, and the statement CHAR(10) is used for inserting a line break.

How to Combine TEXTJOIN and CHAR Functions to Add New Line While Joining Cells?

You can combine TEXTJOIN and CHAR functions for line breaks during concatenating multiple cells.

Insert the formula below into cell E5 >> press the Enter key >> drag the Fill Handle icon down >> double click on the row bars to view all lines.

=TEXTJOIN(CHAR(10),TRUE,B5:D5)

Here, the TEXTJOIN function concatenates the cell contents with a line break delimiter expressed by the statement CHAR(10).

How to Insert Line Break After a Specific Character in Excel?

We can insert line breaks after any specific character by using the Find and Replace feature.

Select the range C5:C10 >> click on the Find & Select dropdown menu from the Home tab >> select the Replace option.

We can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + H as an alternative.

In the Find what textbox, type “, ” and in Replace with textbox, press the Ctrl + J keys simultaneously.
Then, click on the Replace All button.

Double-click on the row bar of cells to adjust row heights and view all lines.

How to Remove Line Breaks in Excel?

When we don’t need line breaks anymore, we can remove them.

Select the range C5:C10 >> click on the Find & Select dropdown menu from the Home tab >> select the Replace option.

We can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + H as an alternative.

A user form like the following will appear. In the Find what textbox, press the Ctrl + J keys simultaneously, and in Replace with textbox, type “, ”.
Then, click on the Replace All button.

Finally, select the range C5:C10 again and deselect the Wrap Text feature to view the required result.

Read More: Remove Line Breaks

What Are the Things to Remember?

You must adjust the row height by double-clicking on the row bars to view all the contents in a cell after adding line breaks in Excel.
For directly inserting a line break in a cell, we need to use the keyboard shortcut Alt + Enter.
For inserting line breaks to a range of cells, we can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + J in the Find and Replace feature.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the keyboard shortcut for adding line breaks on the Macintosh Operating System (Mac OS)?

Answer: The keyboard shortcut for line breaks in Excel for the Macintosh Operating system is Control + Option + Return.

2. Can I add line breaks in a formula in Excel?

Answer: Yes, we can add line breaks in a formula in Excel. For this purpose, use the keys Alt + Enter where needed.

3. Can I apply line breaks to multiple cells or a range of cells simultaneously in Excel?

Answer: Yes, we can apply line breaks to multiple cells or a range of cells simultaneously by using the Find and Replace feature in Excel. For that, select the range of cells, open the Find and Replace user form, and replace the desired character with a line break.

Line Break in Excel: Knowledge Hub

Conclusion

This concludes our article to learn about the line break in Excel. We discussed all the methods of adding line breaks in cells without using a formula. By using a keyboard shortcut and the Wrap Text feature, we can quickly insert a new line. We also demonstrated various formulas to add a line break when joining different cells. This will help us to combine multiple cells with a line break.

We showed the use of the Find and Replace feature to add line breaks after a specific character and remove unnecessary line breaks. We hope the demonstrated examples were helpful in your quest to learn about line breaks in Excel. Feel free to share your thoughts on the article in the comment box.

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