Merge Cells in Excel

Merge cells into one large cell to make clear that a label in Excel applies to multiple columns. Use CONCATENATE, TEXTJOIN or Flash Fill to merge cells without losing data.

1. We start simple. Enter a label in cell A1.

2. Select the range A1:G1.

3. On the Home tab, in the Alignment group, click Merge & Center.

Result:

This feature only keeps the value in the upper-left cell and deletes all other values!

4. For example, enter a label in cell A1, B1 and C1 and select these cells.

5. On the Home tab, in the Alignment group, click Merge & Center.

Result:

Note: click Merge & Center again to unmerge cells (cell B1 and C1 will be empty). Press Ctrl + z to undo this action.

6. Use the CONCATENATE function in Excel to merge cells without losing data.

Explanation: this function concatenates (joins) the string in cell A1, a space, and the string in cell B1.

7. If you're using Excel 2016 or later, use TEXTJOIN to merge cells. This function ignores empty cells (if the second argument is set to TRUE).

We saved the best for last. You can also use Flash Fill to merge cells.

8. For example, select cell C2 below. Type the company name and the product type. We used a colon (:) and a space, but you can use any delimiter.

9. On the Data tab, in the Data Tools group, click Flash Fill (or press CTRL + E).

Result:

Wow! Visit our page about concatenation or flash fill for more information and examples.

If you're new here, welcome to Excel Easy! Join over 1 million monthly Excel learners. You can find popular courses here: Excel Functions and Data Analysis in Excel.