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How to Merge Cells in Excel
To merge cells in Excel, select them and click Home › Merge & Center. The cells become one big cell, typically used for a title above a table. Be careful: Excel only keeps the value of the top-left cell. To combine the contents of cells, use a formula instead (see below).
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Merge cells
- Select the cells to merge, for example A1:D1.
- Click Home › Merge & Center, or open the arrow next to it for more options.
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Merge & Center | One cell, text centred. Shortcut: Alt, H, M, C |
| Merge Across | Merges each selected row separately: A1:D3 becomes three merged rows |
| Merge Cells | One cell, alignment unchanged |
| Unmerge Cells | Splits merged cells back into separate cells |
Data loss: if more than one cell has a value, Excel warns you that only the upper-left value is kept. The rest is deleted.
Combine text from two cells without losing data
To get "Anna Smith" from a first name in A2 and a last name in B2, don't merge: join them in a new column.
=A2 & " " & B2Or for several cells with a separator, in Excel 2019 and later:
=TEXTJOIN(", ", TRUE, A2:D2)Fill down, then copy the column and paste as values if you want to delete the originals. See CONCATENATE, & and TEXTJOIN. Flash Fill (Ctrl+E) also works: type the first full name and press Ctrl+E.
Unmerge cells
Select the merged cell and click Merge & Center again, or choose Unmerge Cells. The value ends up in the top-left cell; the other cells are empty.
To find all merged cells: Ctrl+F › Options › Format › Alignment, tick Merge cells and click Find All. Or select the whole sheet (Ctrl+A) and click Unmerge once.
After unmerging a column you often want the empty cells filled with the value above. Select the column, press F5 › Special › Blanks, type =, press the up arrow and confirm with Ctrl+Enter.
The better alternative: Center Across Selection
Merged cells cause trouble with sorting, filtering, copying and selecting columns. You can get the same look without merging:
- Type the title in the first cell (A1) and select A1:D1.
- Press Ctrl+1 and go to the Alignment tab.
- Under Horizontal, choose Center Across Selection and click OK.
The title is centred over the four columns, but each cell stays separate. This only works horizontally; for vertical merges there's no equivalent.
Problems caused by merged cells
- "To do this, all the merged cells need to be the same size" when sorting. Unmerge first.
- You can't paste into part of a merged cell.
- Row height doesn't auto-fit with wrapped text.
- Formulas only see the first cell; the others count as empty.
- Merge & Center is greyed out when you're editing a cell, the sheet is protected, or the cells are in an Excel table.
Frequently asked questions
What's the shortcut to merge cells in Excel?
There's no single key, but you can press Alt, H, M, C in sequence for Merge & Center, or Alt, H, M, U to unmerge.
How do I merge two columns into one?
Use a formula like =A2 & " " & B2 in a third column, fill it down, then paste it as values and delete the original columns.
How do I split a cell in Excel?
You can only split a cell that was merged before (Unmerge). To split the content of one cell over several columns, use Text to Columns.
Can I merge cells in Google Sheets the same way?
Yes, via Format › Merge cells, with the same options and the same data-loss warning.