How to Insert a Text Box in Excel & Google Sheets

This tutorial will demonstrate how to insert a text box in Excel and Google Sheets.

 

 

Insert a Text Box

1. In the Ribbon, select Insert > Text > Text Box.

 

 

2. Click in the Excel worksheet where the text box needs to go, and drag down and to the right with the mouse to size the box accordingly.

 

 

3. The cursor will now be inside the text box. To add text, just start typing!

 

 

Insert a Text Box Using the Shapes Menu

We can also insert a text box using Shapes on the Ribbon.

In the Ribbon, select Insert > Shapes > Basic Shapes > Text Box.

 

 

We may find that the Text Box icon is in the Recently Used Shapes group if we have recently inserted a text box into Excel.

How to Remove the Border From the Text Box

We may wish to remove the single border that is around the text box by default.

1. Click on the Text Box. A new tab will be added to the ribbon called Shape Format.

 

 

2. In the Ribbon, select Shape Format > Shape Outline > No Outline to remove the border from the text box.

 

 

We can also use the Shape Format tab to change the border color or fill color of the text box using the Shape Fill option. We can change the color of the text inside the text box by selecting the text and then selecting Text Fill.

 

 

Insert an ActiveX Text Box

A different type of text box to insert into Excel is an ActiveX text box. This type of text box gives us greater flexibility than a text box created as a shape. One of the advantages is that we can add a scroll bar to this type of text box.

We need to have the Developer tab showing on our ribbon to insert an ActiveX text box.

1. To switch on the Developer tab, in the Ribbon, select File > Options > Customize Ribbon.

 

 

2. Check the Developer check box and click OK.

3. In the Ribbon, select Developer > Insert > ActiveX > Text Box.

 

 

4. As we did previously, drag down and to the right with the mouse to size the box accordingly.

 

 

5. Right-click on the text box and then click on Properties.

 

 

OR

1. In the Ribbon, select Developer > Controls > Properties.

 

 

2. Select True for Multiline and then select 2 – frmScrollBarsVertical for ScrollBars.

 

 

3. Close the Properties box.

4. To enter text into the text box, click on the text box and then in the Ribbon, select Developer > Controls > Design Mode. This will switch Design Mode OFF and enable you to type text into the text box.

 

 

Alternatively, right-click on the text box, select TextBox Object and then click Edit.

 

 

5. Type in the desired text.

 

 

Note that it’s also possible to use VBA to insert text boxes.

How to Insert a Text Box in Google Sheets

To insert a text box into Google Sheets we need to create a drawing.

1. In the menu, select Insert > Drawing.

 

 

2. Select Text Box from the Drawing Toolbar.

 

 

3. Click in the drawing to create the text box.

 

 

4. Type in the desired text and then click Save and Close.

 

The text box will now appear in our sheet.

 

5. To edit the text box, click on the text box and then click on the drop down menu in the right-hand corner. Select Edit.

 

 

The drawing object will once again open allowing us to edit the text box.