Forcing text to a new line does not occur in the ODS destination for Excel when the NEWLINE ODS inline function is specified in a string that also includes other inline functions.  The text does not wrap correctly when other inline functions are included in the same string as the NEWLINE function.

To circumvent the problem, use the encoded value for the new line instead of the NEWLINE function.  Click the Full Code tab to see a sample program that illustrates the problem and the circumvention. 

Operating System and Release Information

data test;                                                                                                                              
   do i=1 to 10;                                                                                                                         
      test=i;                                                                                                                            
      output;                                                                                                                            
   end;                                                                                                                                  
run;                                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                        
ods excel file="c:\temp\test2.xlsx" options(absolute_column_width="60" flow="headers");                                                 
ods escapechar='~';
                                                                                                                     
proc report data=test style(header)={protectspecialchars=off};                                                                         
   column i test;                                                                                                                    
   define i / display "The line break should occur here 
 and it does with this ~{style [color=red] test}";                     
   define test / display "The line break should occur here ~{newline 1} but does not in this ~{style [color=red] test}";             
run; 
                                                                                                                                   
ods excel close;