Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Adjusting Row Height for Your Text.

Adjusting Row Height for Your Text

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 11, 2024)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

1

It is fairly easy to put more text in a cell than can be readily displayed. While you can widen the column to fit your text, sometimes this is not a good (or viable) option. Instead, you can wrap the text within the cell, so that the cell height is increased to display all the text. Follow these steps:

  1. Select the cells whose formatting you want to affect.
  2. Press Ctrl+Shift+F. Excel displays the Format Cells dialog box.
  3. Click on the Alignment tab. (See Figure 1.)

    4. Figure 1. The Alignment tab of the Format Cells dialog box.

  4. Make sure the Wrap Text check box is selected.
  5. Click on OK.

It is important to remember that your row height will only increase automatically if you haven't explicitly specified the row height. (It also won't work properly if you have merged cells in your row. More on that in a moment.) If the height doesn't expand to fit the contents of the cell, follow these steps, after doing the previous steps:

  1. Select the row.
  2. Make sure the Home tab of the ribbon is displayed.
  3. Within the Cells group, click Format. Excel displays a drop-down menu of choices.
  4. Choose AutoFit Row Height from the menu.

The text should now be wrapped within the cell and all visible.

If your row has merged cells in it, this can present its own set of challenges. This is better addressed in a different tip, which you can find here.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (9578) 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: Adjusting Row Height for Your Text.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Counting Characters in a Selection with VBA

Need to figure out the number of characters in a range of selected text? Here's how to do it in VBA.

Discover More

Using Mandatory Form Fields

When using form fields to gather information from users of your documents, you may want to make sure that some of the ...

Discover More

Putting an X in a Clicked Cell

Need to click on a cell and have it replaced with an "X"? Macros make it easy to do, as illustrated in this tip.

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 365 applications with VBA programming. Written in clear terms and understandable language, the book includes systematic tutorials and contains both intermediate and advanced content for experienced VB developers. Designed to be comprehensive, the book addresses not just one Office application, but the entire Office suite. Check out Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 365 today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Hiding and Unhiding Rows

When building a worksheet, you may need to hide some of the rows or unhide other, previously hidden, rows. It's easy to ...

Discover More

Adjusting to a Maximum Row Height

Need to check the height of all the rows in a worksheet and then adjust them if a particular criterion is met? This tip ...

Discover More

Increasing Row Height for Printing

You may have a need to increase the height of the rows in your worksheet to "spread out" the data when it is printed. ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is seven less than 7?

2022-04-23 16:30:48

John Mann

I didn't know the shortcut CTRL+SHIFT+F for format - I've used CTRL+1 for the same purpose.

This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.