The “Enter” key or “Return” key on your keyboard doesn’t always work the same way in Microsoft Excel as it does in many other programs, where pressing the key drops you to a new line on the page. In Excel, simply pressing “Return” drops you to the cell below the current one. When you want to stay within the same cell but still go to a new line, you must use what is called a "hard return" or "forced return." This not an actual feature within Excel; it just requires pressing an additional key on the keyboard.
1. Open Microsoft Excel and click into a cell on the grid.
2. Type the first part of the character string that you want to enter on the first line in the cell.
3. Press and hold the “Alt” key and then press the “Enter” key. Release both keys. You will see no visible change to the cell at this point.
4. Type the second part of the character string. Note that it appears on a second line within the same cell.
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