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Break Excel Formulas into Bite-size Sections

BY STANLEY ZAROWIN

Please note: This item is from our archives and was published in 2006. It is provided for historical reference. The content may be out of date and links may no longer function.

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My spreadsheets contain very long, complex formulas that are hard to read. Is there some way to break them into smaller pieces without affecting the integrity of the formula?

There is an easy solution.

For example, take this long formula:

Wouldn’t it be easier to read if it were broken into sections, like this?

To “format” the formula this way I pressed Alt+Enter at each natural break in the formula.

Bonus : If you copy the four-line formula from the Formula bar and paste it into a worksheet, each line will be pasted into a different cell (see screenshot below). That gives you the opportunity to test each part of the formula.