Rotate or align text in a cell

If you want to change the way data appears in a cell, you can rotate the font angle or change the data alignment.

Change text rotation

1. Select the cell or range of cells containing the text you want to rotate.

2. Click Home > Orientation , and pick the rotation angle that you want.

   

Change data alignment in a cell

To move the position of data in a cell, click Home and use the alignment options.

Select the cell containing the data you want aligned and choose from the following alignment options:

• Vertical alignment: Click Top Align , Middle Align , or Bottom Align .

• Horizontal alignment: Click Align Left , Center , or Align Right .

• To move data closer to the left cell border, click Decrease Indent .

• To move data further away from the left cell border, click Increase Indent .

• Wrap the text in a cell: Click Wrap Text.

• For additional text alignment options, click Dialog Box Launcher next to Alignment. On the Alignment tab, choose the options you want. For example, to justify text in a cell, click the drop-down box under Horizontal > Justify.

Tip: To center or align data that spans several columns or rows, such as column and row labels, first click Merge and Center to merge a selected range of cells. Then you can select the merged cell and reposition its cell contents as described earlier in this procedure.

• Microsoft Excel cannot rotate indented cells or cells that are formatted with the Center Across Selection or Fill alignment option in the Horizontal box (Format Cells dialog box, Alignment tab). If all the selected cells have these conflicting alignment formats, the text rotation options under Orientation are not available. If the selection includes cells that are formatted with other, nonconflicting alignment options, the rotation options are available. However, cells that are formatted with a conflicting alignment format are not rotated.

• When text in a cell is justified, it will appear to be left aligned if the cell contents fits on a single line. When you justify text that spans multiple lines, every line is justified except the last line.

Need more help?

You can always ask an expert in the Excel Tech Community, get support in the Answers community, or suggest a new feature or improvement on Excel User Voice.

See Also

Change the format of a cell

Format text in cells

Format numbers

Format a date the way you want