3 Simple Ways to Unwrap Text in Excel

Whenever you are working with a dataset where the texts are longer than the column width, you may have used Wrap Text feature to make the texts fit within the column. But if you ever need to undo what you’ve done, Excel also has some built-in features to help you. This article will explain how you can unwrap text in Excel. So bear with us and learn with simplicity.

unwrapped cells


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What is Wrap Text in Excel?

When data is entered into a cell that is too big to fit, one of two things happens:

      • A long text string overlaps the border of the cell and goes into the columns beside (the right) if they are empty.
      • In case the cell beside has any data, the display of the cell value at question is shortened.

Wrap Text feature allows you to display longer text in a cell without it spilling or compromising with the display. The term “wrapping text” refers to breaking up the contents of a cell’s row or column into several lines. With this feature, you can prevent “truncated column” effect and this improves the text’s readability as well as printing compatibility. Furthermore, it can assist us in maintaining constant column widths across the worksheet.


Learn to Unwrap Text in Excel with These 3 Methods

In this article, we will explain 3 simple and easy methods to unwrap text in Excel. We will use a book catalog with the titles wrapped to fit within the cell width. The first two methods will involve an explanation of Excel’s built-in feature on Home tab, while the third will involve the use of a VBA script. We will be using the following wrapped dataset for this.

Unwraped Text

Entries in column are all wrapped as we can see the whole values of each one.

Method 1

1. Using Wrap Text Feature

For our first method, we will use Wrap Text feature. If the text in your cells is wrapped, this feature will be turned on.  That means we will have to uncheck Wrap Text feature.

⬇️⬇️ STEPS ⬇️⬇️

  • Firstly, choose the cell you want to unwrap. We have chosen cell B6.
  • The next step is to select Wrap Text under “Alignment” group of Home tab.

Uncheck Wrap Text feature

That’s it, folks. You have successfully unwrapped the texts.

Unwrapped single cell

For the rest of the rows, use the same procedure.

unwrapped cells

Method 2

2. Using Format Feature

We will use the Format feature in this section.  We will uncheck Wrap Text option from the Format Cells window, which will turn the text into one line. Also, we will select multiple cells at once.

⬇️⬇️ STEPS ⬇️⬇️

  • To begin, choose the cells you want to unwrap. We have chosen the range B6:B9.

Selecting to unwrap text

  • Then, from Home tab, select Format under the Cells Lastly, select Format Cells. You can also hit Ctrl+1 to access the Format Cells window.

Selecting Format Cells to unwrap text

  • Finally, once the Format Cells dialog box has loaded, uncheck Wrap text box under alignment tab. Finally, press OK to unwrap the texts.

Format Cells Window to unwrap text

If you have done everything right, this is what unwrapped text should look like.

unwrapped cells

Method 3

3. Using VBA

We can achieve the same goal using VBA code.  So, to write your code, you need to first access the Developer tab. Click here to see how to access the Developer tab. Let’s see how we can use the coolest version of Excel to unwrap text.

VBA

3.1. Unwrapping Single Cell

Firstly, we will write a code to unwrap just a single cell. So, in our code, we will define our range with the cell reference, and to unwrap, we will use False as the value.

⬇️⬇️ STEPS ⬇️⬇️

  • While on the Developer tab, click the Visual Basic button in the Ribbon’s left-hand corner.

Visual Basic to unwrap text

  • Thus, a window will show up where you will click Insert and subsequently, Module.

inserting module

  • In the module, copy and paste the following code.
Sub Unwrappingtext()
Worksheets("Method 3.1").Range("B6").WrapText = False
End Sub

Code to unwrap single cell

  • Finally, press F5 to execute the code and unwrap the text.

unwrapped cell

VBA

3.2. Unwrapping Range of Cell

In this section, we will write code to unwrap a range of cells. So, in our code, we will define our range with cell B6:B9, and to unwrap, we will use False as the value.

⬇️⬇️ STEPS ⬇️⬇️

  • While on the Developer tab, click the Visual Basic button in the Ribbon’s left-hand corner.

Accessing Visual Basic to unwrap text

  • Thus, a window will show up where you will click Insert and subsequently, Module.

module to unwrap text

  • In the module, copy and paste the following code.
Sub Unwrappingtext()
Worksheets("Method 3.2") Range("B6:B9").WrapText = False
End Sub

code to unwrap range of cell

  • Finally, press F5 to execute the code and unwrap the text.

vba result


📝 Takeaways from This Article

🖊️ We explained what wrapped text is and how users can unwrap text in Excel.

🖊️ Firstly, we demonstrated unchecking Wrap Text feature from Home tab.

🖊️ Then, we achieved the same goal by using the Format Cells window.

🖊️ Last but not least, we constructed VBA code to unwrap texts.


Conclusion

We have come to the conclusion of our article. I hope that after reading this article, you can easily count blank colored cells in Excel. If you have any questions, feel free to comment below.  I will try to answer them as soon as possible. Have fun using Excel, and you can visit Excelden.com for more tutorials. Thank You.

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Hassan Shuvo

Hassan Shuvo

Hello, I am Mehedi Hassan Shuvo.I am an Engineering graduate from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. I love reading Thriller books, watching Anime, and playing Cricket. I also love learning about new software. Excel is one of my favorite ones by far. My efforts will be worthwhile if I can utilize my expertise to assist anyone. If you find any faults in my writing please let me know.I will try to correct them as I am learning everyday.

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