Hi,

Can you tell me if you can do text to columns when you have pressed alt return to go down a line in the cell.

Hi Gemma, Thank you for your post, in answer to your question; well you can but you will lose the second and any subsequent lines, its a bit like merging the cells, you will lose the second line;
For those who are wondering what is going on I will put in a little explanation here: (Even if you don't have an immediate use for this one, it's one of those handy little pieces of information that may just get you out of a jam one day. :-)

For example your Excel file has both first and last names in the same cell?
Now how are you supposed to sort that list alphabetically by last name when first name is listed first?
The answer is that you can't—you have to separate the first and last names—somehow... But how?
You could spend your time retyping the last name into the next column. It works but it's not a great plan since it could take "forever" if your list is really long.
Or... maybe you have other text / data that really should be separated into different cells for easy sorting and editing.
There is a fast way to separate the data? (This works best with data that's pretty consistent and not too complicated.)
The first thing you'll need to do is to highlight the data that needs to be separated.
Go to the menu command Data>Text into Columns
A 3-step wizard will start to guide you through the process.
On step 1 check at the top that the data will be delimited.
Then click Next.
In step 2 you need to check the Space option in the Delimiters section. (Make sure all other choices are unchecked.) Basically what you're doing here is telling Excel what character separates your pieces of data—so that when it find a space it knows to stick the next piece of text in a new column.
You will notice the preview of your data in the bottom window? See how the names are now divided into different columns?
Click Next.
Step 3 will allow you to do some formatting and placement of your data—but for now, just click the Finish button.
Just like magic your first and last names are in two separate columns, ready to sort - no retyping necessary.
(Ok—maybe not magic but, if your list was long, you'll feel like it was when you realize how much time you just saved.)
I hope that helps, Sorry about your multi lined cells though, regards Pete