Office Training for Beginners. Over 19 hours of Office skills online video training. This training is for anyone who is new to Microsoft Office 2003* or has started using Office but knows very little about its features. Charts allow you to communicate information visually, with greater impact than tables or raw data. They also happen to be one of the most powerful and easy-to-use features in Microsoft Excel for Mac.
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- Text 1 For Chart Outline In Excel Macros
This tutorial shows how to wrap text in a cell automatically and how to insert a line break manually. You will also learn the most common reasons for Excel wrap text not working and how to fix it.
Primarily, Microsoft Excel is designed to calculate and manipulate numbers. However, you may often find yourself in situations when, in addition to numbers, large amounts of text need to be stored in spreadsheets. In case longer text does not fit neatly in a cell, you can of course proceed with the most obvious way and simply make the column wider. However, it's not really an option when you work with a large worksheet that has a lot of data to display.
A much better solution is to wrap text that exceeds a column width, and Microsoft Excel provides a couple of ways to do it. This tutorial will introduce you to the Excel wrap text feature and share a few tips to use it wisely.
What is wrap text in Excel?
When the data input in a cell is too large fit in it, one of the following two things happens:
- If columns to the right are empty, a long text string extends over the cell border into those columns.
- If an adjacent cell to the right contains any data, a text string is cut off at the cell border.
The screenshot below shows two cases:
The Excel wrap text feature can help you fully display longer text in a cell without it overflowing to other cells. 'Wrapping text' means displaying the cell contents on multiple lines, rather than one long line. This will allow you to avoid the 'truncated column' effect, make the text easier to read and better fit for printing. In addition, it will help you keep the column width consistent throughout the entire worksheet.
The following screenshot shows how wrapped text looks like in Excel:
How to wrap text in Excel automatically
To force a lengthy text string to appear on multiple lines, select the cell(s) that you want to format, and turn on the Excel text wrap feature by using one of the following methods.
Method 1. Go to the Home tab > Alignment group, and click the Wrap Text button:
Method 2. Press Ctrl + 1 to open the Format Cells dialog (or right-click the selected cells and then click Format Cells…), switch to the Alignment tab, select the Wrap Text checkbox, and click OK.
Compared to the first method, this one takes a couple of extra clicks, but it may save time in case you wish to make a few changes in cell formatting at a time, wrapping text being one of those changes.
Tip. If the Wrap Text checkbox is filled in solid, it indicates that the selected cells have different text wrap settings, i.e. in some cells the data is wrapped, in other cells it is not wrapped.
Result. Whichever method you use, the data in the selected cells wraps to fit the column width. If you change the column width, text wrapping will adjust automatically. The following screenshot shows a possible result:
How to unwrap text in Excel
As you can easily guess, the two methods described above are also used to unwrap text.
The fastest way is to select the cell(s) and click the Wrap Text button (Home tab > Alignment group) to toggle text wrapping off.
Alternatively, press the Ctrl + 1 shortcut to open the Format Cells dialog and clear the Wrap text checkbox on the Alignment tab.
How to insert a line break manually
Sometimes you may want to start a new line at a specific position rather than have lengthy text wrap automatically. To enter a line break manually, just do the following:
- Enter cell edit mode by pressing F2 or double-clicking the cell or clicking in the formula bar.
- Put the cursor where you want to break the line, and press the Alt+Enter shortcut (e. press the Alt key and while holding it down, press the Enter key).
![Text 1 for chart outline in excel mac shortcuts Text 1 for chart outline in excel mac shortcuts](/uploads/1/2/6/0/126049720/343073512.png)
Result. Inserting a manual line break turns on the Wrap Text option automatically. However, the line breaks entered manually will stick in place when the column is made wider. If you turn off text wrapping, the data displays in one line in a cell, but the inserted line breaks are visible in the formula bar. The following screenshot demonstrates both scenarios (a line break in entered after the word 'owl'):
Excel wrap text not working
As one of the most often used features in Excel, Warp Text was designed as simple as possible and you will hardly have any problems using it in your worksheets. If text wrapping does not work as expected, check out the following troubleshooting tips.
1. Fixed row height
If not all wrapped text is visible in a cell, most likely the row is set to a certain height. To fix this, select the problematic cell, go to the Home tab > Cells group, and click Format > AutoFit Row Height:
Or, you can set a specific row height by clicking Row Height… and then typing the desired number in the Row height box. A fixed row height comes in especially handy to control the way the table headers are displayed.
2. Merged cells
Excel's Wrap Text does not work for merged cells, so you will have to decide which feature is more important for a particular sheet. If you keep the merged cells, you can display the full text by making the column(s) wider. If you opt for Wrap Text, then unmerge cells by clicking the Merge & Center button on the Home tab, in the Alignment group:
3. The cell is wide enough to display its value
If you try to wrap a cell(s) that is already wide enough to display its contents, nothing will happen, even if later on the column is resized and becomes too narrow to fit longer entries. To force the text to wrap, toggle the Excel Wrap Text button off and on again.
This is how you wrap text in Excel to display longer text on multiple lines. I thank you for reading and hope to see you on our blog next week!
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The steps in this tutorial use the formatting and layout options available in Excel 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007, and Excel for Mac.
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How to Make a Column Chart in Excel
Follow these steps to create a basic column chart in Excel:
- Highlight the data to be included in the chart. Include row and column headings but not the title for the data table.
- Select the Insert tab.
- In the Charts group, select Insert Column or Bar Chart to open the drop-down list of available chart types.
- Hover your mouse pointer over a chart type to read a description of the chart.
- Choose the desired chart.
A plain, unformatted chart is added to the current worksheet. The chart displays the selected data series, a legend, and axes values.
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Create a Basic Column Chart in Excel
The first step in creating a chart is to enter the chart data. The second step is to highlight the data used to create the chart. When selecting the data, the row and column headings are included in the selection, but the title at the top of the data table is not. The title must be added to the chart manually.
If you don't have data at hand to use with this tutorial, use the data shown in the image above.
To enter and select the data to be included in the chart:
- Enter the data into the correct worksheet cells
- Highlight the range of cells that include the data you want to appear in the chart. In the tutorial example, highlight cells A2 to D5. This is the range of data that is represented by the column chart.
- Select Insert.
- In the Charts group, select Insert Column or Bar Chart to open the drop-down list of available chart types.
- Hover your mouse pointer over a chart type to read a description of the chart.
- In the 2-D Column section of the list, select a chart. To follow along with this tutorial, select 2-D Clustered Column to add this basic chart to the worksheet.
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Undo Mistakes
There are many different parts to a chart in Excel. Inside an Excel chart, you'll find the plot area that contains the column chart. Inside the chart, you'll see the selected data series, the legend, and the chart title.
All of these parts are considered separate objects and each can be formatted separately. You select the part of the chart you want to format by clicking on it with the mouse pointer. If the results aren't what you expected, make sure the right part of the chart is selected before applying the formatting.
The most common mistake is clicking on the plot area in the center of the chart when the intention is to select the entire chart. The easiest way to select the entire chart is to select the top left or the top right corner away from the chart title.
If you make a mistake, correct it with Excel's undo feature to remove the mistake. After you've removed the mistake, select the correct part of the chart and try again.
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Delete Gridlines from the Plot Area
Your chart may include gridlines that run horizontally across the plot area. These gridlines make it easier to read the values for specific points of data, especially in charts that contain a lot of data.
Since there are only three series of data in this chart, the data points are relatively easy to read. The gridlines are unnecessary.
- Select a gridline. This highlights all the gridlines and small blue circles appear at the end of each gridline.
- Select the large green plus (+) that is located on the right side of the chart.
- Uncheck Gridlines.
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Text 1 For Chart Outline In Excel Macro
Find the Chart Tools Tabs
When a chart is created in Excel, or whenever an existing chart is selected, two additional tabs are added to the ribbon.
These Chart Tools tabs, Design and Format, contain formatting and layout options specifically for charts. These options will be used in the following steps to add a title to the column chart and to change the chart colors.
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Change the Chart Text
- In the chart, select the Chart Title box and type a title.
- Select the green plus (+) sign on the right side of the chart.
- Select the arrow next to Chart Title.
- Select the desired placement of your title. Or for further formatting options, select More Options.
In Excel 2010 and 2007, basic charts do not include chart titles. These must be added separately. Select Layout > Chart Title to add a chart title.
Changing the font type used by default for all the text in the chart improves the appearance of the chart. It also makes it easier to read the legend and axes names and values.
These changes are made using options located in the font section of the Home tab.
- Select Chart Title.
- Select the Home tab.
- In the font section of the ribbon, select Font to open the drop-down list of available fonts.
- Scroll to find and select the font you want to use. The title text changes to the selected font.
To change the Legend and Axis text, select the text box for Legend or Axis and repeat these steps.
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Change Column Colors
You can change the appearance of the data columns by changing colors, adding a gradient, and adding an outline to each column. Use the Shape Fill and Shape Outline options, located on the Format tab, make these changes.
- Select a column in the chart to select all its matching columns.
- Select Format.
- Select Shape Fill to open the Fill Colors drop-down panel.
- Choose a color.
- Select a column.
- Select Format > Shape Fill to open the Fill Colors drop-down menu.
- Hover the mouse pointer over Gradient to open the Gradient panel.
- Hover over a gradient to see how it will look in your chart.
- Choose a gradient.
- Select a column.
- Select Format > Shape Outline to open the Shape Outline drop-down menu.
- Choose the color you want to use as the outline for each column.
- Select Format > Shape Outline.
- Hover over Weight to open a list of options.
- Choose a thickness.
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![Outline in excel Outline in excel](/uploads/1/2/6/0/126049720/282505685.png)
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Move the Chart to a Separate Sheet
Moving a chart to a separate sheet makes it easier to print the chart and it can also relieve congestion in a large worksheet full of data.
Text 1 For Chart Outline In Excel Macros
- Select the chart's background to select the entire chart.
- Select the Design tab.
- Select Move Chart to open the Move Chart dialog box.
- Select the New sheet option and give the sheet a name.
- Select OK to close the dialog box. The chart is now located on a separate worksheet and the new name is visible on the sheet tab.