Does any one out there know how to remove a lot of
hard returns from multiple cells

You could run a macro similar to this (change the indicated range as
needed)....

Dim C As Range
For Each C In Range("b1:f3")
C.Value = Replace(C.Value, vbLf, " ")
Next

and then save the worksheet afterwards. The above macro removes each Line
Feed (what you are calling a "hard return") and replaces them with a single
blank space.

Rick