Alt + Enter

[Samsmummy]

Hi, I am trying to insert multiple rows into an Excel cell. I don't want to always rely on 'Alignment', 'Wrap text', and use 'alt + enter' (and have done so successfully since Excel 95 - at work). However, I haven't been able to use alt+enter for some time now on my home computer. I have had 2 computers since this problem occurred - my first ran XP with Excel 2003, and now having recently upgraded computers and software, the problem is still occurring. I am now running Office Ultimate - Excel 2007, with Windows XP. When I type into a cell, and hold Alt Enter, I get no response from my computer at all. Please help!

 

[SydneyGeek]

Hi, and welcome to the Board!

I just tried it on my machine (Office 2007, Vista Business) and it's fine. Nothing apparently happened but when I expanded the cell the line break was in the correct place.

Denis

 

[Samsmummy]

Thanks for replying. When I say nothing happens, that's exactly what I mean though! There is no character space, no enter, and when I expand my cell, there is no change in the cell contents. It's as if I haven't keyed anything in. Both keys are operational (they just don't seem to work in conjunction with each other).

 

[SydneyGeek]

Weird. I don't know if it will make any difference but sometimes the two Alt buttons work differently. I used the left one.

When I tried it out, it really looked like nothing was working -- but it did once I had finished editing. I'll see if there are any others clues out there.

EDIT: Just tried on a different machine; Office 2007 on Win XP. It worked too. The only difference was that I got a wacky symbol at editing time -- disappeared when I left the cell.

Denis

 

[Samsmummy]

I'm wondering if somewhere, my character map has been affected. I'm not sure if this would be an issue, but it feels more like a system problem than a specific Excel problem (but I've only noticed it in Excel). Any ideas???

 

[schielrn]

Maybe try opening Excel in safe mode and see if alt-enter works?

To do this, press window+R or got to run on the start menu and type in:

excel.exe /safe

And then see if you can use alt-enter, its worth a shot at seeing if maybe something is overriding it?

 

[Samsmummy]

Thanks for the advice, but still no luck. I've tried both alt keys, and also run Excel in safe mode, but no luck!