How To Merge Cells In Excel

Have you ever had text or data in Excel that occupied too much space for a single cell? While you can always adjust the width of your columns or the height of your rows, this isn’t always the best solution. In many cases, you may want to adjust a single cell without affecting the rest of its row or column. To do this, you simply have to merge two or more cells into one.

In today’s guide, we will help you learn how to merge cells, unmerge cells, and find merged cells in Excel. And remember, if you’re struggling to figure out how to use complex functions in Excel, be sure to reach out to the experts at Geeker for help. Now, let’s get started!

How To Merge Cells

Thankfully, you don’t have to be a master of Excel to learn how to merge multiple cells. In fact, the process is pretty simple. Just follow the steps below:

  1. Highlight and select the cells you want to merge; remember to click on the cell with the value or text you want to keep before dragging your cursor over the other cells
  2. With the cells selected, go to the “Home” tab
  3. In the “Alignment” group, click on “Merge & Center”

These three simple steps will merge all of your selected cells and even format the text or value so that it is centered in the cell. However, you should keep in mind that this is the process of merging cells and only keeping the text or value contained in the first cell. Any text or values in the remaining cells will automatically be discarded. For this reason, it is best to save your data prior to merging any cells, especially if you plan to merge many cells at once, as you could end up losing valuable data.

Excel Shortcut For Merging Cells

If you frequently need to merge cells, following the steps in the previous section may get a little tedious. Excel shortcuts can end up saving you a lot of time and effort. So, to make your life just a little bit easier, consider memorizing one or more of these Excel shortcuts:

Alt + H + M + C

Once you’ve selected the correct cells, this shortcut key merges the selection and centers the text. Once you enter the shortcut, a dialog box will appear that allows you to make any adjustments as needed before finalizing the change.

If you prefer to merge cells without centering the text in the cell, this is the best shortcut for you. Just select the cells you want to merge and then enter this shortcut to automatically merge the cells without any special formatting.

Alt + H + M + M

How To Merge Two Columns Without Losing Data

As previously mentioned, the standard “Merge & Center” option will cause you to lose any data that is not in the first selected cell. Naturally, if you’re merging a lot of cells with important data that you want to keep, this is not a workable solution. Instead, you can either choose one of two Excel functions to combine the data first:

CONCAT Function

  1. Select the cell where you want the merged data to appear
  2. Assuming you want to merge data from cells A1 and B1, input the following formula: =CONCAT(A1,” “,B1)
  3. (Optional) Apply the same formula to all cells in the same column by clicking on the formula cell and dragging the fill handle to cover the required range

CONCATENATE Function

  1. Select the cell where you want the merged data to appear
  2. Assuming you want to merge data from cells A1 and B1, input the following formula: =CONCATENATE(A1,” “,B1)
  3. (Optional) Apply the same formula to all cells in the same column by clicking on the formula cell and dragging the fill handle to cover the required range

*Note: The “ “ input in the formulas above automatically puts a space between values from different cells. If you don’t want to add a space, you can simply take the quotations out of either formula.

How To Unmerge Cells

Merging cells is a great way to make larger text or values fit into a single cell. However, this action also has some drawbacks. For example, if you want to copy and paste data to or from merged cells, you might encounter formatting issues. It could make large data sets with numerous merged cells harder to organize. So, in some cases, it might be better just to unmerge cells and format your data in a different way.

To unmerge cells in Excel, follow these steps:

  1. Select the cell you want to unmerge
  2. Go to the “Home” tab
  3. In the “Alignment” group, you’ll see “Merge & Center”
  4. Click the dropdown menu next to “Merge & Center” and choose “Unmerge Cells”

Once you unmerge cells, the text or values in the original merged cell will default to the top-left cell in the new range. The remaining cells will be empty. As a result, you may need to reformat your data after unmerging.

How To Find Merged Cells

In a large spreadsheet, you’ll want to know exactly where you have merged cells, particularly if you need to move batches of data from one place to another. As mentioned above, merged cells can lead to formatting issues when copying and pasting data from one part of a spreadsheet to another. Fortunately, it’s easy to find any merged cells within your worksheet by using the built-in “Find & Select” feature.

To find your merged cells, just follow these steps:

  1. Go to the “Home” tab
  2. In the “Editing” group, click on “Find & Select”
  3. From the dropdown menu, select “Go To Special…”
  4. A dialog box will appear; select “Merged Cells”
  5. Finalize your selections and see your merged cells by clicking “OK”

Now, all of your merged cells will be highlighted and much easier to find. In the event that you don’t have any merged cells, Excel will display a message with this information. Keep in mind that this method only works for one worksheet at a time. So, even if you have multiple worksheets open, it will only find and select the merged cells in the worksheet that is currently active.

Need help from dependable Excel experts? Reach out to Geeker today for on-demand IT and software solutions!