Microsoft Excel Question

I used to know how to do this, but has been a long time and now I do not remember.

There is a keystroke that can be used to be able to put 2 lines of typing in a single cell.

Does anyone here know what that is?

Thank you!

Inspeqtor wrote in post #19087138
I used to know how to do this, but has been a long time and now I do not remember.

There is a keystroke that can be used to be able to put 2 lines of typing in a single cell.

Does anyone here know what that is?

Thank you!

Do you mean Format Cells -> Alignment Tab -> click the Wrap Text check box?
Or do you mean the use of ALT + Enter? (press the ALT and enter keys at the same time at the end of a line)

IIRC, you make the entry from the formula bar/box, not from an cell.

> Select a cell by clicking on it.
> Click in the formula bar/box.
> Enter the first line of text.
> Press SHIFT-ENTER.
> Enter the next line of text.
> Repeat if desired.
> Press ENTER or click on a blank cell to save the cell and move on.

If you do Alt-Enter somewhere in a string of characters in a cell, it will split into two lines. Same as Capn Jack's second point. This is what I do often in Excel 2003, my favorite spreadsheet program. But there seems to be some confusion about exactly what you want to do.

I think you're after the Concatenate function:

https://www.techonthen​et.com …ction%20(WS)%20​in%20Excel.


The trick is that this works for three cells, not two. But the third cell can be a dummy (i.e., blank).

I'm not totally clear what you want to do but I'm thinking you want one sentence, then another. You can do this by clicking the cell, typing the first line, type "Alt Enter" and type your second sentence. You can do this forever. YOu will have multiple lines all in the same cell.

ALT+Enter as Archibald says.

I should have mentioned in my original post on the keystrokes there were two keys being used. I was thinking CTRL+ something. But ALT + Enter is the one I was thinking of and used to use in the past.

I have both 2007 and 2010 versions of Excel. I have been using 2010 the most recently but now Microsoft will no longer support 2010 wanting everyone to "UPGRADE" to Microsoft 365 at a yearly cost minimum of $69.99 per year.

I went back to 2010 and 2007 Excel to try the ALT+Enter and it does work for both versions!

Thank you everyone!!

Inspeqtor wrote in post #19087515
I should have mentioned in my original post on the keystrokes there were two keys being used. I was thinking CTRL+ something. But ALT + Enter is the one I was thinking of and used to use in the past.

I have both 2007 and 2010 versions of Excel. I have been using 2010 the most recently but now Microsoft will no longer support 2010 wanting everyone to "UPGRADE" to Microsoft 365 at a yearly cost minimum of $69.99 per year.

I went back to 2010 and 2007 Excel to try the ALT+Enter and it does work for both versions!

Thank you everyone!!

You are welcome

Inspeqtor wrote in post #19087515
I went back to 2010 and 2007 Excel to try the ALT+Enter and it does work for both versions!

Thank you everyone!!

Ah, what was known as a carriage return in the days of typewriters.

I can confirm that ALT+Enter also works with the Excel component of both Office 2016 and Office 2019.

One thing, since we have people from all over the world on this forum, it is my understanding that the ALT+Enter combination may not work if a non-English keyboard is selected. It should work with MS Word as well, so if you are having trouble then check your keyboard setting. If it is set to “English” you might want to try an alternative keyboard. They do fail.

John from PA wrote in post #19087534

Inspeqtor wrote in post #19087515
I went back to 2010 and 2007 Excel to try the ALT+Enter and it does work for both versions!

Thank you everyone!!

Ah, what was known as a carriage return in the days of typewriters.

I can confirm that ALT+Enter also works with the Excel component of both Office 2016 and Office 2019.

One thing, since we have people from all over th world on this forum, it is my understanding that the ALT+Enter combination may not work if a non-English keyboard is selected. It should work with MS Word as well, so if you are having trouble then check your keyboard setting. If it is set to “English” you might want to try an alternative keyboard. They do fail.

An old carriage return! Never thought of that one!!