In Excel: Excel has no line-spacing setting. Space text out with row height plus vertical alignment (Home ▸ Format ▸ Row Height, then Align Top/Middle), and for several lines inside one cell add indents or a text box.
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Select the rows, then Home ▸ Cells ▸ Format ▸ Row Height and enter a value in points (default is 15 at 11pt Calibri).
Set where the text sits in the taller row: Home ▸ Alignment ▸ Align Top, Middle or Bottom.
For breathing room on the left or right, use Home ▸ Alignment ▸ Increase Indent rather than leading spaces — indents survive TRIM and sorting.
To space wrapped lines inside one cell, add an empty line with Alt+Enter between them; Excel cannot change the leading itself.
When real line spacing is required (a note block, a title card), use Insert ▸ Text ▸ Text Box and set spacing under Format Shape ▸ Text Options ▸ Text Box.
What this does
Word processors expose a line-spacing multiplier; Excel does not, because a cell is a box, not a paragraph. What people mean by line spacing in Excel splits into three separate jobs. Spacing between rows is row height, set in points under Home ▸ Format ▸ Row Height. Where the text sits inside that taller row is vertical alignment — top, middle or bottom on the Home tab. And spacing between wrapped lines within a single cell cannot be changed at all: the leading follows the font size, so the only levers are the font, the cell padding created by indents, or moving the text into a text box, which does have real line spacing. Before you run it on a workbook other people depend on, try it on a copy or a few rows first. Undo only reaches back through the current session, so a quick trial run is the cheapest way to see exactly what will change before the file is saved and shared. The difference between a quick fix and a sheet you can trust is the extra minute you spend validating “line spacing in excel”. Start on a copy or a tiny sample, keep the affected cells visible, and compare the result with the tool above before you touch the real workbook. When this is a ribbon command, the selection matters more than the button: confirm the range, apply the command, then spot-check the output before saving. The point is a visual that makes the number obvious at a glance, but the practical win is that someone else can open the file and understand what happened without asking you.
A worked example
A comment column reads as a solid block: select the rows, set Home ▸ Format ▸ Row Height to 30 (from the default 15), then click Align Middle so each entry sits centred in its band. For a single cell that holds three wrapped lines and needs air between them, insert an empty line with Alt+Enter between each one — that costs nothing and is the only way to increase the gap inside a cell. If the text truly needs 1.5 line spacing, put it in Insert ▸ Text ▸ Text Box, where Format Shape ▸ Text Options exposes real paragraph spacing. The fastest answer to a line-spacing question is that the setting does not exist: knowing that immediately redirects the effort to row height and alignment, which take one dialog each and actually hold when the file is shared. A practical tip: try it on a copy of the sheet or a handful of sample rows first and check the result before you apply it to the real data. That one habit catches almost every surprise while it is still cheap to reverse.
In Google Sheets
This is a command rather than a formula, so there is no syntax to carry over. Google Sheets arranges its commands in menus across the top instead of a ribbon, names some of them differently and does not have every Excel command — look for the equivalent in the Sheets menus or its help before assuming the steps match. The aim was to get you unstuck fast and leave you a little more capable than a copy-paste would. The answer is at the top and the detail above shows why it holds — so the next time a colleague asks, you can answer without reaching for search. Treat “line spacing in excel” as a routine rather than a one-off. Once you know which setting or command controls it, the same few steps handle every workbook where it comes up in Excel, and you can explain them to a colleague in a sentence.
Common mistakes
- Hunting for a line-spacing button on the Home tab — there is none; row height and alignment are the two controls that exist.
- Double-spacing by typing spaces or empty rows between records: that breaks sorting, filtering and every range formula that assumes a contiguous block.
- Setting a large row height and wondering why the text still hugs the bottom edge — vertical alignment defaults to Bottom, so it has to be changed separately.
- Using Wrap Text and expecting the gap between the wrapped lines to grow: wrap only decides where the line breaks, never how far apart the lines sit.
Frequently asked questions
How do I change line spacing in Excel?
You change row height instead: select the rows, Home ▸ Format ▸ Row Height, enter a larger number, then set Home ▸ Align Middle so the text is centred in the new space.
Can I set 1.5 or double line spacing inside a cell?
Not for cell text — Excel ties the leading to the font size. Either add an empty line with Alt+Enter between the lines, or put the text in a text box, which supports real paragraph and line spacing.
How do I add space between lines of wrapped text?
Press Alt+Enter at the end of a line to add a blank line, or increase the font size and row height together. There is no leading control for cells.
What is the default row height?
15 points for the default 11pt Calibri. Excel raises it automatically when the font grows or when wrapped text needs more lines, unless the height was set manually — in which case it stays where you put it.