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How to remove line breaks from a cell in Excel and Google Sheets
Topic:Text manipulationExcel & Google Sheets
=SUBSTITUTE(A2,CHAR(10)," ")✓
Verified example
Computed by a real spreadsheet engine on the sample data below.
| Multi-line Text | Cleaned |
| Hello World | |
| One Two | |
| A B C | |
| Cat Dog | |
| Yes No |
=SUBSTITUTE(A2,CHAR(10)," ")→Hello World
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Sample data — click any cell to edit
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Step by step
- 1Click the destination cell (e.g. B2).
- 2Enter =SUBSTITUTE(A2,CHAR(10)," ") to replace each line break with a single space.
- 3To remove line breaks entirely (no replacement), use =SUBSTITUTE(A2,CHAR(10),"").
- 4For cells with both CHAR(10) and CHAR(13) (Windows-style breaks), nest two SUBSTITUTE calls: =SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A2,CHAR(13),""),CHAR(10)," ").
Tips
- CLEAN(A2) removes all non-printable characters including line breaks, but also strips other control characters — use SUBSTITUTE when you need more control over the replacement.
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Frequently asked
Why does my cell still show multiple lines after the formula?
The formula result lives in a new cell — make sure you are looking at the formula cell, not the source. Also check that Wrap Text is enabled only on the source column.
Does this work the same in Excel and Google Sheets?
Yes — CHAR(10) represents a newline in both applications and SUBSTITUTE is identical.
More on Text manipulation
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