"Offering free computer help, hints, and tips to the Internet populace." Now with over 3,820 tips!

Microsoft Excel 2010

Rotate Text for Effect

SUMMARY: Make header cells in an Excel 2010 worksheet stand out by rotating text.

To draw attention to certain text inside a Microsoft Excel 2010 worksheet, such as the headers of a table, you might consider rotating the text. You can rotate text any degree or display text vertically.

1. Select a cell that you would like to rotate.

2. Click the "Home" tab in the Ribbon.

3. In the "Alignment" section, click the "Orientation" button - it looks like the letters "ab" rotated and an arrow underneath them. See the below screenshot:


Rotating text inside a cell in an Excel 2010 worksheet



4. A pop-up menu appears; choose from the following choices:

* Angle Counterclockwise (45 degrees)
* Angle Clockwise (45 degrees)
* Vertical Text (Stackes the characters of a cell on top of each other)
* Rotate Text Up (90 degrees)
* Rotate Text Down (90 degrees)

If you want more control over the degree of rotation, click the "Format Cell Alignment" option. This opens the "Format Cells" dialog box to the "Alignment" tab.

You can either enter the number of degrees to rotate in the box next to "Degrees", or click on anywhere in the half-circle underneath "Orientation" to visually choose your angle. Or, if you decide you want to stack the text vertically, click the box labeled "Text" with stacked letters next to the semi-circle.

When done, click "OK" to close the dialog box.


Rotating text inside a cell in an Excel 2010 worksheet by 65 degrees

Return to the Microsoft Excel 2010 page.

Print this tip


Get the Newsletter

blog comments powered by Disqus

Thanks For Sharing!



Newest Tips:

Microsoft Word 2010
W0rds w8th Numbers Pass the S0ellchecker!
Google Gmail
Automatically Archive a Conversation you Respond to
Digital Photography
[MODIFIED] Did Someone Get in the Way While Taking a Photo?
Google Chrome
View Kittens and Pandas Everywhere!

Follow Us!

About MalekTips and the Author

The MalekTips website was created in 1998 by Andrew Malek of Envision Programming. The page's goal is to freely disperse computer-related tips, hints, and informative articles. Tips are organized to be easy to find, and are presented clearly, in easy-to-understand language. MalekTips also provides information and links to public-domain, open source, freeware, shareware, and commercial software available for download. < more >