Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 21, 2023)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021
Excel allows you to format the contents of a cell in a myriad of ways. One of the formatting options you can apply is to indent the contents of a cell by a certain amount. This is similar to indenting done in a word processor, such as Microsoft Word, except that the indenting is specified in a number of characters, not in a linear distance such as inches or points.
To set the indent to be used in a cell, follow these steps:
Figure 1. The Alignment tab of the Format Cells dialog box.
Note in step 4 that you can also choose Distributed (Indent) if you want to indent the same number of characters from both the left and the right.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (6120) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Indenting Cell Contents.
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