Indenting Excel spreadsheets enable you to organize and format data. The indenting of cells also enhances their readability. We are used to indenting cells using the Tab key on the keyboard. However, using the Tab key does not indent keys in Excel; it only moves the cell pointer to the next cell. In order to indent inside the Excel cell in Excel, this article gives you simple ways to do so.
Follow the easy steps below;
Use the format cells option
1. Highlight and select the cells that you want to indent in your Excel document
2. Open the Home Tab and click the arrow on the alignment section to display more options
3. Increase the number to Increase Indent
This indents the cells you have selected.
4. Press Increase Indent to add more
5. Remove the indentation by pressing setting the number to 0
Download indent inside Excel cell Template
The Increase Indent button method
Follow the simple steps below to do this;
1. Open the Excel document
2. Type in the text you want into the document
3. Highlight the cells in the Excel document in which you want to perform the indenting action
4. Ensure that as you highlight. The cursor does not blink
5. Click to open the Home Tab
6. Go to the Alignment section and press the option Increase Indent
You will notice that every moment you click on this button, the text which you selected indents more to the right side of the document. If you notice you have gone too far;
7. Press the Decrease indent icon so that the text will go back to the left side
The multiple lines of text using the wrap text method
In case your text entry goes beyond the right edge of the cell, this method is most useful. Use the following steps in this case.
1. Highlight the cell you want to indent
2. Go to the Alignment section and open the Home Tab
3. Click on Wrap Text
This action will display the cells by making them visible on multiple lines.
Indenting individual lines
It is possible to indent individual lines rather than multiple lines. Do this by completing the easy steps below;
1. Highlight the cells you want to indent
2. Click on Wrap Text to turn it on
3. Place the cursor and click it into the cell you want to indent
4. Insert the text you want and go to a new line
5. Use the keyboard keys Alt+ Enter on your Pc. Select Option +Return on Mac
6. Tap on the space bar on the keyboard to insert the space between individual lines of text. Using the Space bar, manually indents the line.
How to set the indent feature
You can indent inside Excel cells automatically by following
In order to set the indent feature so that it can be used in cells in Excel, follow the easy steps below;
1. Highlight the cell you want to format
2. Click the Format Menu and select Cells
3. Click on the Format Cells choice
4. Go to the Indent Control and type in the number of characters that you want to be indented. Remember to pick a whole number.
5. Press OK
Keyboard Shortcut to indent inside Excel Cell
Keyboard shortcuts are a life saver. They help users to make quick changes on the Excel Spreadsheet. If you want to indent inside Excel Cell quickly then a keyboard shortcut will save you. The two shortcuts below will help you indent to the right or left.
Keyboard Shortcut to indent inside Excel cell to the right
ALT + H + 6
Keyboard Shortcut to indent inside Excel cell to the right
ALT + H + 5
To utilize these shortcuts, first click on the cell you wish to Indent then press the keys in the order above. Pres one after another in a sequence to activate the indent.
How to indent within a cell in Excel mobile app
The Excel mobile app is a useful tool especially when your on the go. You can use it to access your spreadsheet to edit or view quickly. For this reason you might need to indent inside an excel cell.
First open the spreadsheet on the mobile app. Then click on the area in the sentence you need to tab and press the space key several times to your desired length. Remember the number of times you hit the space to have an equal tab space through out your document.
Similar Read: How to Turn off Excel Date Formatting: 5 Easy Ways
How to indent within a Cell in Google Sheets
Google Sheets is one of the most used Excel alternatives. If you are editing a spreadsheet using google sheets then there is no doubt that you may need to indent within a cell. Follow these simple steps
1. Highlight on a list or paragraph that you wish to indent
2. Click on Format from the Tool bar
3. Hover the cursor over number then click on custom number format.
4. Now press the space bar three times and input @.
5. Finally click on the apply button
As you can see from the image above, the list is now indented to the right.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Can you Tab in a Excel Cell?
Click on tab in a Excel cell will take you to the next cell on the right. If you wish to indent inside the cell, then you need to press on the space bar three times. Alternatively, you can indent the cells using the indent feature under the alignment section. Just choose to indent right or left.
2. How can I write Multiple lines in an Excel Cell
To write multiple lines in an Excel Cell, you need to press the keyboard shortcut alt+enter.
3. How to create a hanging Indent in Excel
First male sure you can write multiple lines in one cell by pressing alt+enter. There after press the cursor on the second line and click on space bar.
Final Thoughts
In this article we have discussed how to indent inside Excel cell. We have also looked at how to create a hanging indent. To summarize, you can create a hanging indent by clicking on the the indent button which is located under Home>>Alignment section. Note that pressing tab key located on the keyboard takes you to another cell.