diff --git a/src/features/database/DataView.tsx b/src/features/database/DataView.tsx
index 11423947f..ec98a55e5 100644
--- a/src/features/database/DataView.tsx
+++ b/src/features/database/DataView.tsx
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import {
   type LocalSort,
 } from "./resultView";
 import { openDialog } from "./store";
+import { hasLineBreak } from "./cellPreview";
 import styles from "./Database.module.css";
 import { tx } from "@/platform/i18n";
 
@@ -346,17 +347,30 @@ function RecordField(props: { column: GridColumn; cell: Cell; editable: boolean;
         {c.name}
         {c.type && c.type !== "NULL" && <span className={styles.treeType}>{c.type}</span>}
       </span>
-      <Input
-        mono
-        value={text}
-        readOnly={!props.editable}
-        placeholder={props.cell === null ? "<null>" : undefined}
-        onChange={(e) => setText(e.target.value)}
-        onBlur={commit}
-        onKeyDown={(e) => {
-          if (e.key === "Enter") commit();
-        }}
-      />
+      {hasLineBreak(props.cell ?? "") ? (
+        // A single-line field would drop the line breaks on the first edit.
+        <textarea
+          className={styles.recordText}
+          rows={Math.min(8, (props.cell ?? "").split(/\r\n|\r|\n/).length)}
+          value={text}
+          readOnly={!props.editable}
+          spellCheck={false}
+          onChange={(e) => setText(e.target.value)}
+          onBlur={commit}
+        />
+      ) : (
+        <Input
+          mono
+          value={text}
+          readOnly={!props.editable}
+          placeholder={props.cell === null ? "<null>" : undefined}
+          onChange={(e) => setText(e.target.value)}
+          onBlur={commit}
+          onKeyDown={(e) => {
+            if (e.key === "Enter") commit();
+          }}
+        />
+      )}
     </label>
   );
 }
diff --git a/src/features/database/Database.module.css b/src/features/database/Database.module.css
index f256361cf..f3e233dd0 100644
--- a/src/features/database/Database.module.css
+++ b/src/features/database/Database.module.css
@@ -107,6 +107,9 @@
   color: var(--fg-muted);
   font-style: italic;
 }
+.lineBreak {
+  color: var(--fg-muted);
+}
 .cellEditor {
   min-width: 0;
   height: 24px;
@@ -959,10 +962,23 @@
   font-family: var(--openidea-editor-font, var(--font-mono));
   font-size: var(--fs-code);
 }
-.valueText:focus {
+.valueText:focus,
+.recordText:focus {
   outline: none;
   border-color: var(--focus-ring);
 }
+.recordText {
+  resize: vertical;
+  padding: 3px 6px;
+  border: 1px solid var(--border);
+  border-radius: var(--radius-control);
+  background: var(--bg-input);
+  color: var(--fg-strong);
+  font-family: var(--openidea-editor-font, var(--font-mono));
+  font-size: var(--fs-code);
+  -webkit-user-select: text;
+  user-select: text;
+}
 .aggregates {
   width: 100%;
   border-collapse: collapse;
diff --git a/src/features/database/Grid.test.tsx b/src/features/database/Grid.test.tsx
index 200defe81..3898d1619 100644
--- a/src/features/database/Grid.test.tsx
+++ b/src/features/database/Grid.test.tsx
@@ -130,3 +130,48 @@ describe("large database cells", () => {
     expect(screen.getByRole("gridcell").textContent).toBe("<null>");
   });
 });
+
+describe("multi-line database cells", () => {
+  const columns = [{ name: "note", type: "text" }];
+  const multi = "first line\nsecond line\r\nthird";
+
+  it("shows line breaks as markers on one line", () => {
+    render(<Grid columns={columns} rowCount={1} value={() => multi} />);
+    expect(screen.getByRole("gridcell").textContent).toBe("first line↵second line↵third");
+  });
+
+  it.each([
+    ["LF", "a\nb", "a\nb\nc"],
+    ["CRLF, kept although the textarea uses LF", "a\r\nb", "a\r\nb\r\nc"],
+  ])("edits a multi-line value (%s) in the multi-line editor and keeps its line breaks", (_, value, saved) => {
+    const onEdit = vi.fn();
+    render(<Grid columns={columns} rowCount={1} value={() => value} editable onEdit={onEdit} />);
+    fireEvent.doubleClick(screen.getByRole("gridcell"));
+    const editor = screen.getByRole("textbox") as HTMLTextAreaElement;
+    expect(editor.tagName).toBe("TEXTAREA");
+    fireEvent.change(editor, { target: { value: "a\nb\nc" } });
+    fireEvent.keyDown(editor, { key: "Enter", metaKey: true });
+    expect(onEdit).toHaveBeenCalledWith(0, 0, saved);
+  });
+
+  it("opens the multi-line editor with Shift+Enter, from the grid and from the inline editor", () => {
+    const onEdit = vi.fn();
+    render(<Grid columns={columns} rowCount={1} value={() => "one"} editable onEdit={onEdit} />);
+    fireEvent.mouseDown(screen.getByRole("gridcell"), { button: 0 });
+    fireEvent.mouseUp(window);
+    fireEvent.keyDown(screen.getByRole("grid"), { key: "Enter", shiftKey: true });
+    expect((screen.getByRole("textbox") as HTMLTextAreaElement).tagName).toBe("TEXTAREA");
+    fireEvent.click(screen.getByRole("button", { name: "Cancel" }));
+
+    fireEvent.doubleClick(screen.getByRole("gridcell"));
+    const inline = screen.getByRole("textbox");
+    expect(inline.tagName).toBe("INPUT");
+    fireEvent.change(inline, { target: { value: "one two" } });
+    fireEvent.keyDown(inline, { key: "Enter", shiftKey: true });
+    fireEvent.blur(inline);
+    const editor = screen.getByRole("textbox") as HTMLTextAreaElement;
+    expect(editor.tagName).toBe("TEXTAREA");
+    expect(editor.value).toBe("one two");
+    expect(onEdit).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/features/database/Grid.tsx b/src/features/database/Grid.tsx
index aefd0f1d5..6b2f918e0 100644
--- a/src/features/database/Grid.tsx
+++ b/src/features/database/Grid.tsx
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import { Dialog, Icon, showContextMenu, type MenuItem } from "@/ui";
 import { parseDelimited, toCsv, toTsv, type Cell } from "./model";
 import styles from "./Database.module.css";
 import { tx } from "@/platform/i18n";
-import { CELL_PREVIEW_LIMIT, cellPreview } from "./cellPreview";
+import { CELL_PREVIEW_LIMIT, cellPreview, hasLineBreak } from "./cellPreview";
 
 export interface GridColumn {
   name: string;
@@ -83,6 +83,22 @@ function initialWidth(c: GridColumn, sample: Cell[], decorations: number): numbe
 /** SQLite renders whole REALs as `3108.0`; IDEA shows `3108`. */
 const displayed = (v: string, numeric: boolean) => (numeric && /^-?\d+\.0$/.test(v) ? v.slice(0, -2) : v);
 
+/** A cell's text on one line: each line break shows as a muted `↵`. */
+function cellText(value: string) {
+  const parts = cellPreview(value).split(/\r\n|\r|\n/);
+  if (parts.length === 1) return parts[0];
+  return parts.flatMap((part, i) =>
+    i === 0
+      ? [part]
+      : [
+          <span key={i} className={styles.lineBreak}>
+            ↵
+          </span>,
+          part,
+        ],
+  );
+}
+
 function norm(s: Sel) {
   return {
     top: Math.min(s.r0, s.r1),
@@ -105,6 +121,11 @@ export function Grid(props: GridProps) {
     return () => window.removeEventListener("mouseup", stop);
   }, []);
   const [editing, setEditing] = useState<{ row: number; col: number; text: string; dialog: boolean } | null>(null);
+  /** The inline editor is being swapped for the multi-line one: its blur must not commit. */
+  const maximizing = useRef(false);
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (!editing?.dialog) maximizing.current = false;
+  }, [editing?.dialog]);
   const columnKey = columns.map((c) => c.name).join("\u0000");
   const [widths, setWidths] = useState<number[]>([]);
   const [numeric, setNumeric] = useState<boolean[]>([]);
@@ -163,17 +184,23 @@ export function Grid(props: GridProps) {
   const commit = () => {
     if (!editing) return;
     const prev = value(editing.row, editing.col);
-    if (editing.text !== (prev ?? "") || prev === null) {
-      if (!(prev === null && editing.text === "")) onEdit?.(editing.row, editing.col, editing.text);
+    // A textarea turns CRLF into LF; a value that used CRLF throughout keeps it.
+    const text =
+      prev && prev.includes("\r\n") && !/(^|[^\r])\n/.test(prev)
+        ? editing.text.replace(/\r?\n/g, "\r\n")
+        : editing.text;
+    if (text !== (prev ?? "") || prev === null) {
+      if (!(prev === null && text === "")) onEdit?.(editing.row, editing.col, text);
     }
     setEditing(null);
     scrollRef.current?.focus();
   };
 
-  const startEdit = (row: number, col: number) => {
+  /** `maximized` (⇧Enter): the multi-line editor, which multi-line and long values always use. */
+  const startEdit = (row: number, col: number, maximized = false) => {
     if (!editable || props.rowState?.(row) === "deleted") return;
     const text = value(row, col) ?? "";
-    setEditing({ row, col, text, dialog: text.length > CELL_PREVIEW_LIMIT });
+    setEditing({ row, col, text, dialog: maximized || text.length > CELL_PREVIEW_LIMIT || hasLineBreak(text) });
   };
 
   const onKeyDown = (e: KeyboardEvent<HTMLDivElement>) => {
@@ -192,7 +219,7 @@ export function Grid(props: GridProps) {
     if (!sel) return;
     if ((e.key === "Enter" || e.key === "F2") && editable) {
       e.preventDefault();
-      startEdit(sel.r1, sel.c1);
+      startEdit(sel.r1, sel.c1, e.key === "Enter" && e.shiftKey);
       return;
     }
     const moves: Record<string, [number, number]> = {
@@ -325,7 +352,13 @@ export function Grid(props: GridProps) {
             wrap="soft"
             onContextMenu={(e) => e.stopPropagation()}
             onChange={(e) => setEditing({ ...editing, text: e.target.value })}
-            onKeyDown={(e) => e.stopPropagation()}
+            onKeyDown={(e) => {
+              e.stopPropagation();
+              if (e.key === "Enter" && (e.metaKey || e.ctrlKey)) {
+                e.preventDefault();
+                commit();
+              }
+            }}
           />
         </Dialog>
       )}
@@ -404,9 +437,18 @@ export function Grid(props: GridProps) {
                       aria-label={`Edit ${columns[c]!.name}`}
                       value={editing.text}
                       onChange={(e) => setEditing({ ...editing, text: e.target.value })}
-                      onBlur={commit}
+                      onBlur={() => {
+                        if (!maximizing.current) commit();
+                      }}
                       onKeyDown={(e) => {
                         e.stopPropagation();
+                        if (e.key === "Enter" && e.shiftKey) {
+                          // A line break can't be typed in a single-line field: continue in the multi-line editor.
+                          e.preventDefault();
+                          maximizing.current = true;
+                          setEditing({ ...editing, dialog: true });
+                          return;
+                        }
                         if (e.key === "Enter") commit();
                         if (e.key === "Escape") {
                           setEditing(null);
@@ -437,7 +479,7 @@ export function Grid(props: GridProps) {
                     {val === null ? (
                       <span className={styles.null}>&lt;null&gt;</span>
                     ) : (
-                      cellPreview(displayed(val, !!numeric[c]))
+                      cellText(displayed(val, !!numeric[c]))
                     )}
                   </div>
                 );
diff --git a/src/features/database/cellPreview.ts b/src/features/database/cellPreview.ts
index c0a69b4d1..53b7d91d8 100644
--- a/src/features/database/cellPreview.ts
+++ b/src/features/database/cellPreview.ts
@@ -8,3 +8,6 @@ export function cellPreview(value: string): string {
   if (last >= 0xd800 && last <= 0xdbff) end--;
   return value.slice(0, end) + "\u2026";
 }
+
+/** Whether the value spans several lines (a single-line field would drop its line breaks). */
+export const hasLineBreak = (value: string) => /[\r\n]/.test(value);