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Documentation Index

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Overview

The Alignment class controls text alignment, rotation, wrapping, and indentation within cells.

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Namespace

PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Style\Alignment

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Getting an Alignment Object

// Via Style object
$alignment = $spreadsheet->getActiveSheet()->getStyle('A1')->getAlignment();

// Via chaining
$spreadsheet->getActiveSheet()->getStyle('A1')
    ->getAlignment()
    ->setHorizontal(Alignment::HORIZONTAL_CENTER)
    ->setVertical(Alignment::VERTICAL_CENTER);

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Constants

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Horizontal Alignment

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HORIZONTAL_GENERAL
string
default:"'general'"
General alignment (default)
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HORIZONTAL_LEFT
string
default:"'left'"
Left-aligned
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HORIZONTAL_CENTER
string
default:"'center'"
Center-aligned
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HORIZONTAL_RIGHT
string
default:"'right'"
Right-aligned
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HORIZONTAL_JUSTIFY
string
default:"'justify'"
Justified alignment
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HORIZONTAL_FILL
string
default:"'fill'"
Fill alignment (repeats content to fill cell width)
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HORIZONTAL_CENTER_CONTINUOUS
string
default:"'centerContinuous'"
Center across selection
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HORIZONTAL_DISTRIBUTED
string
default:"'distributed'"
Distributed alignment (Excel 2007+)

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Vertical Alignment

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VERTICAL_TOP
string
default:"'top'"
Top-aligned
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VERTICAL_CENTER
string
default:"'center'"
Center-aligned
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VERTICAL_BOTTOM
string
default:"'bottom'"
Bottom-aligned (default)
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VERTICAL_JUSTIFY
string
default:"'justify'"
Justified alignment
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VERTICAL_DISTRIBUTED
string
default:"'distributed'"
Distributed alignment (Excel 2007+)

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Read Order

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READORDER_CONTEXT
int
default:"0"
Context-dependent reading order
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READORDER_LTR
int
default:"1"
Left-to-right reading order
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READORDER_RTL
int
default:"2"
Right-to-left reading order

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Text Rotation

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TEXTROTATION_STACK_PHPSPREADSHEET
int
default:"-165"
Stack text vertically (special value for PhpSpreadsheet)
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TEXTROTATION_STACK_EXCEL
int
default:"255"
Stack text vertically (Excel format value)

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Properties

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horizontal
string
default:"'general'"
Horizontal alignment
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vertical
string
default:"'bottom'"
Vertical alignment
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textRotation
int
default:"0"
Text rotation angle (-90 to 90 degrees, or -165 for vertical stacking)
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wrapText
bool
default:"false"
Whether to wrap text in cell
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shrinkToFit
bool
default:"false"
Whether to shrink text to fit cell
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indent
int
default:"0"
Indentation level (only works with left/right/distributed horizontal alignment)
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readOrder
int
default:"0"
Reading order (0=context, 1=LTR, 2=RTL)
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justifyLastLine
bool
default:"null"
Whether to justify the last line (used with justify alignment)

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Methods

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getHorizontal()

Get horizontal alignment. 
public function getHorizontal(): ?string

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setHorizontal()

Set horizontal alignment. 
public function setHorizontal(string $horizontalAlignment): static
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horizontalAlignment
string
required
Horizontal alignment (use HORIZONTAL_* constants)
Example: 
$alignment->setHorizontal(Alignment::HORIZONTAL_CENTER);
$alignment->setHorizontal(Alignment::HORIZONTAL_LEFT);
$alignment->setHorizontal(Alignment::HORIZONTAL_RIGHT);

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getVertical()

Get vertical alignment. 
public function getVertical(): ?string

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setVertical()

Set vertical alignment. 
public function setVertical(string $verticalAlignment): static
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verticalAlignment
string
required
Vertical alignment (use VERTICAL_* constants)
Example: 
$alignment->setVertical(Alignment::VERTICAL_CENTER);
$alignment->setVertical(Alignment::VERTICAL_TOP);
$alignment->setVertical(Alignment::VERTICAL_BOTTOM);

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getTextRotation()

Get text rotation angle. 
public function getTextRotation(): ?int

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setTextRotation()

Set text rotation angle. 
public function setTextRotation(int $angleInDegrees): static
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angleInDegrees
int
required
Rotation angle in degrees (-90 to 90, or -165 for vertical stacking)
Example: 
$alignment->setTextRotation(45);   // 45 degrees
$alignment->setTextRotation(-45);  // -45 degrees
$alignment->setTextRotation(90);   // 90 degrees
$alignment->setTextRotation(-165); // Vertical stacking

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getWrapText()

Get wrap text setting. 
public function getWrapText(): bool

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setWrapText()

Set wrap text. 
public function setWrapText(bool $wrapped): static
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wrapped
bool
required
Whether to wrap text
Example: 
$alignment->setWrapText(true);

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getShrinkToFit()

Get shrink to fit setting. 
public function getShrinkToFit(): bool

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setShrinkToFit()

Set shrink to fit. 
public function setShrinkToFit(bool $shrink): static
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shrink
bool
required
Whether to shrink text to fit cell
Example: 
$alignment->setShrinkToFit(true);

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getIndent()

Get indentation level. 
public function getIndent(): int

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setIndent()

Set indentation level. 
public function setIndent(int $indent): static
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indent
int
required
Indentation level (only works with left, right, or distributed alignment)
Example: 
$alignment->setHorizontal(Alignment::HORIZONTAL_LEFT)
          ->setIndent(2);

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getReadOrder()

Get reading order. 
public function getReadOrder(): int

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setReadOrder()

Set reading order. 
public function setReadOrder(int $readOrder): static
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readOrder
int
required
Reading order (use READORDER_* constants)
Example: 
$alignment->setReadOrder(Alignment::READORDER_RTL); // Right-to-left
$alignment->setReadOrder(Alignment::READORDER_LTR); // Left-to-right

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getJustifyLastLine()

Get justify last line setting. 
public function getJustifyLastLine(): ?bool

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setJustifyLastLine()

Set justify last line. 
public function setJustifyLastLine(bool $justifyLastLine): static
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justifyLastLine
bool
required
Whether to justify the last line

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applyFromArray()

Apply multiple alignment settings at once. 
public function applyFromArray(array $styleArray): static
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styleArray
array
required
Array containing alignment style information
Example: 
$alignment->applyFromArray([
    'horizontal' => Alignment::HORIZONTAL_CENTER,
    'vertical' => Alignment::VERTICAL_CENTER,
    'textRotation' => 0,
    'wrapText' => true
]);

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Complete Examples

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Basic Alignment

use PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Spreadsheet;
use PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Style\Alignment;

$spreadsheet = new Spreadsheet();
$sheet = $spreadsheet->getActiveSheet();

// Center alignment (both horizontal and vertical)
$sheet->getStyle('A1')->getAlignment()
    ->setHorizontal(Alignment::HORIZONTAL_CENTER)
    ->setVertical(Alignment::VERTICAL_CENTER);

// Left-aligned
$sheet->getStyle('A2')->getAlignment()
    ->setHorizontal(Alignment::HORIZONTAL_LEFT);

// Right-aligned
$sheet->getStyle('A3')->getAlignment()
    ->setHorizontal(Alignment::HORIZONTAL_RIGHT);

​
Text Wrapping

// Enable text wrapping for long text
$sheet->setCellValue('A1', 'This is a very long text that should wrap within the cell');
$sheet->getStyle('A1')->getAlignment()->setWrapText(true);

// Or using applyFromArray
$sheet->getStyle('A2')->applyFromArray([
    'alignment' => [
        'wrapText' => true
    ]
]);

​
Text Rotation

// 45 degree rotation
$sheet->getStyle('A1')->getAlignment()->setTextRotation(45);

// 90 degree rotation (vertical text)
$sheet->getStyle('A2')->getAlignment()->setTextRotation(90);

// -90 degree rotation
$sheet->getStyle('A3')->getAlignment()->setTextRotation(-90);

// Vertical stacking
$sheet->getStyle('A4')->getAlignment()->setTextRotation(-165);

​
Shrink to Fit

// Text will automatically shrink to fit cell width
$sheet->setCellValue('A1', 'Very long text that needs to fit');
$sheet->getStyle('A1')->getAlignment()->setShrinkToFit(true);

​
Indentation

// Indent text (only works with left/right alignment)
$sheet->getStyle('A1')->getAlignment()
    ->setHorizontal(Alignment::HORIZONTAL_LEFT)
    ->setIndent(2);

$sheet->getStyle('A2')->getAlignment()
    ->setHorizontal(Alignment::HORIZONTAL_LEFT)
    ->setIndent(4);

​
Header Row Styling

// Center-aligned, bold header
$sheet->getStyle('A1:E1')->applyFromArray([
    'font' => [
        'bold' => true
    ],
    'alignment' => [
        'horizontal' => Alignment::HORIZONTAL_CENTER,
        'vertical' => Alignment::VERTICAL_CENTER
    ]
]);

​
Table with Mixed Alignment

// Headers - centered
$sheet->getStyle('A1:D1')->getAlignment()
    ->setHorizontal(Alignment::HORIZONTAL_CENTER);

// Text columns - left aligned
$sheet->getStyle('A2:B100')->getAlignment()
    ->setHorizontal(Alignment::HORIZONTAL_LEFT);

// Number columns - right aligned
$sheet->getStyle('C2:D100')->getAlignment()
    ->setHorizontal(Alignment::HORIZONTAL_RIGHT);

​
Multi-line Text

// Text with line breaks
$sheet->setCellValue('A1', "Line 1\nLine 2\nLine 3");
$sheet->getStyle('A1')->getAlignment()
    ->setWrapText(true)
    ->setVertical(Alignment::VERTICAL_TOP);

​
Justified Text

$sheet->setCellValue('A1', 'This is a long paragraph that will be justified across the cell width.');
$sheet->getStyle('A1')->getAlignment()
    ->setHorizontal(Alignment::HORIZONTAL_JUSTIFY)
    ->setWrapText(true);

​
Center Across Selection

// Center text across multiple cells without merging
$sheet->setCellValue('A1', 'Centered Across');
$sheet->getStyle('A1:E1')->getAlignment()
    ->setHorizontal(Alignment::HORIZONTAL_CENTER_CONTINUOUS);

​
Vertical Header

// Create vertical column headers
$headers = ['Jan', 'Feb', 'Mar', 'Apr', 'May'];
foreach ($headers as $col => $header) {
    $columnLetter = \PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Cell\Coordinate::stringFromColumnIndex($col + 1);
    $sheet->setCellValue($columnLetter . '1', $header);
    $sheet->getStyle($columnLetter . '1')->getAlignment()
        ->setTextRotation(90)
        ->setHorizontal(Alignment::HORIZONTAL_CENTER);
}

​
Right-to-Left Text

// For RTL languages (Arabic, Hebrew, etc.)
$sheet->getStyle('A1')->getAlignment()
    ->setReadOrder(Alignment::READORDER_RTL)
    ->setHorizontal(Alignment::HORIZONTAL_RIGHT);

​
Complete Table Example

$spreadsheet = new Spreadsheet();
$sheet = $spreadsheet->getActiveSheet();

// Headers
$sheet->setCellValue('A1', 'Name');
$sheet->setCellValue('B1', 'Age');
$sheet->setCellValue('C1', 'Salary');
$sheet->setCellValue('D1', 'Notes');

// Header styling
$sheet->getStyle('A1:D1')->applyFromArray([
    'font' => ['bold' => true],
    'alignment' => [
        'horizontal' => Alignment::HORIZONTAL_CENTER,
        'vertical' => Alignment::VERTICAL_CENTER
    ]
]);

// Data alignment
$sheet->getStyle('A2:A100')->getAlignment()
    ->setHorizontal(Alignment::HORIZONTAL_LEFT);  // Names

$sheet->getStyle('B2:C100')->getAlignment()
    ->setHorizontal(Alignment::HORIZONTAL_RIGHT); // Numbers

$sheet->getStyle('D2:D100')->getAlignment()
    ->setHorizontal(Alignment::HORIZONTAL_LEFT)
    ->setWrapText(true);                          // Notes with wrapping

​
Common Use Cases

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Table Header

$sheet->getStyle('A1:E1')->applyFromArray([
    'alignment' => [
        'horizontal' => Alignment::HORIZONTAL_CENTER,
        'vertical' => Alignment::VERTICAL_CENTER
    ]
]);

​
Number Column

$sheet->getStyle('C:C')->applyFromArray([
    'alignment' => [
        'horizontal' => Alignment::HORIZONTAL_RIGHT
    ]
]);

​
Text Column

$sheet->getStyle('A:A')->applyFromArray([
    'alignment' => [
        'horizontal' => Alignment::HORIZONTAL_LEFT,
        'wrapText' => true
    ]
]);

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See Also

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