Imagine this scenario: you’re entering data into a spreadsheet, and it’s time to insert addresses (or descriptions or any other long string of characters). You will likely encounter a problem like this: the text is too long to fit in the cell, so it either extends past the column or gets cut off (if there is another filled column next to it). We have all been there.
That’s where Google Sheets’ text wrap feature comes in handy. By adjusting the text, your string of characters will automatically adapt to the width of the column by expanding the cell height with line breaks. For example, once adjusted, my notes text looks like this:
There are several ways to adjust text in Google Sheets, and we will go through all of them, indicating the most suitable one for each use case. Let’s get started!
Adjusting Text in Google Sheets via the Toolbar
This is the quickest method and requires just a few clicks!
- Open the spreadsheet on Google Sheets.
- Select the cells, columns, or rows you want to adjust.
- Locate the toolbar (row of formatting buttons above your spreadsheet) > Click on the Text Wrapping button (two parallel vertical lines with a horizontal arrow in the middle). Note: if the Text Wrapping button is not immediately visible in your toolbar, click on the “More” button (three aligned dots), and it should appear in a dropdown menu below.
- Click on the “Wrap” button.
Voilà! Your text should now be adjusted within the cell.
Adjusting Text in Google Sheets via the Format Tab
This is another easy method to adjust the text. You can opt for this one if you’re having trouble finding the Text Wrapping button.
- Open the spreadsheet on Google Sheets.
- Select the cells, columns, or rows you want to adjust.
- Go to the “Format” menu > “Text Wrapping” > “Wrap”.
Adjusting Text in Google Sheets via the Mobile App
If you want to format your spreadsheet on the go, you can also adjust the text in the Google Sheets mobile app! Here’s how:
- Open the spreadsheet on Google Sheets.
- Select the cells, columns, or rows you want to adjust.
- Tap the formatting button at the top right (icon of a letter A with horizontal lines) > Tap on the “Cell” tab > Enable the “Wrap Text” button.
Adjusting Text Manually in Google Sheets
Although not the most convenient option, sometimes you might want to manually format your text to choose the placement of line breaks and/or control the width of your lines independently of the cell width. Here’s how:
- Open the spreadsheet on Google Sheets.
- Select the cell > Place the text cursor where you want the line break > Press Ctrl + Enter.
- Repeat step 2 if necessary.
Note: As you can see, the column’s text wrap setting is still “overflow” (meaning the text visually overflows into the next cell if it’s empty), but I have manually entered line breaks at random places, which varies the text width in each cell.
Other Considerations
Column Width
Once you start adjusting text, you’ll find that setting an appropriate column width is essential for a pleasing layout. You probably don’t want a jumble of words on top of each other like this:
Yikes! In this case, make sure to widen the column to make the spreadsheet more readable. Now, that’s much more appealing:
Other Text Formats
It’s also important to keep in mind the other text formatting options, so that you know all your possibilities when formatting your spreadsheet. Here are the three styles:
- Overflow: The text visually overflows into the next cell if it’s empty (set by default).
- Wrap: The text automatically adjusts to the width of the column by expanding the cell height with line breaks.
- Clip: The text is contained within the width and height of the column, but any content beyond that will not be visible.
How to Adjust Text in Google Sheets:
- Select the cell, row, or column where you want to adjust your text.
- Select “Format” from the File menu.
- Select “Text Wrapping”.
- Click on “Wrap”.
Supercharge Your Spreadsheets with Crawlan
We hope this article has helped you gain a better understanding of how to adjust text in Google Sheets. You might also enjoy our articles on how to add a hyperlink and how to highlight in Google Sheets.
To optimize your workflow, we recommend checking out our guide on how to extract a domain from an email in Google Sheets and trying out our software to track deadlines for your loan portfolio!
Discover more tips and tricks on Crawlan.com.
