Excel as a tool is used to record, clean, organize, analyze and present data.

Merging excel cells is a good way to organize your data visually on excel. In this article we’ll learn how to merge cells in excel.

Let’s start.

What are merged cells in excel

Merging in excel is used to combine cells in excel.
Using this you can combine two cells in excel, combine rows and even merge columns in excel.
Primarily it’s used to create headings for tables or columns without resizing any individual cell. Although merging excel cells can create some issues like you won’t be able to use formula properly on merged cells etc.

How to merge cells in excel 

1. Select the cells to be merged.
   
   
   
2. Under Home tab, click the arrow under Merge option.
   
   
   
3. Select Merge Cells.
   
   
   
4. Done, this is how you merge cells in excel.
   

How to merge cells in excel using Merge & Center

In the above example we saw how to merge cells in excel which are blank.
Let’s say the cells to be merged have some data and we want to create a heading which is center aligned, in that case we’ll have to merge cells in excel using a different option.

1. Select the cells.
   
   
   
2. Under Home tab, click the arrow under Merge option.
   
   
   
3. Select Merge & Center.
   
   
   
4. Done, this will merge cells in excel and will make the data center aligned.
   

Note: While merging, if all the cells have some data then only the data of the upper left cell is kept after merging, rest cell’s data is deleted.

Shortcut to merge cells in excel

There is no shortcut to merge cells in excel directly but we can use a combination of key sequences to achieve the same result.
Use the below sequences:

1. Merge Cells – ALT H+M+M
2. Unmerge Cells – ALT H+M+U
3. Merge & Center – ALT H+M+C

Note: On MacOS you can’t use the same sequence as Mac doesn’t have a ALT key. To use the shortcut on Mac you’ll have use “Customise Keyboard” option to setup shortcut to merge cells in excel on Mac.

How to merge cells in excel without losing data

 When you merge cells in excel, only the data of the upper left cell is kept rest is deleted.

In case you want to combine just the data from multiple cells but necessary don’t want to merge them into 1 cell then there are other better ways, let’s see:

1. CONCATENATE Function:
   • Go to the cell where you want to see the merged data.
     
   • Type =CONCATENATE(A2,” “,B2) where A2 and B2 has the data to be merged. “ “ will add a space between the data of A2 and B2.
     
   • Hit enter and you can see that the cell’s data is now merged.
     
2. Ampersand Symbol:
   • Go to the cell where you want to see the merged data.
     
   • Type =A2&” “&B2 in the cell C2.
     & is used to connect different values and “ “ will add space between A2 and B2.
     
   • Press enter and the data will be merged.
     

This is how to merge cells in excel without losing data.

Combining rows in excel using Merge Across

 There are multiple merge options to merge excel cells and one of them is to use Merge Across.

It can only be used to merge cells across a single row and can’t be used to merge cells across multiple rows.

1. Select the cells.
   
   
   
2. Under Home tab, click the arrow under Merge option.
   
   
   
3. Select Merge Across. 
   
   
4. Done, this will merge cells in excel across single row using Merge Center option
   

How to merge two columns in excel or merge across rows and columns

 To merge cells across rows and columns you can follow the same steps as using the Merge & Center option.

1. After selecting the range of cells across rows and columns, select Merge option.
   
   
   
2. From the drop down select, Merge & Center.
   
   
   
3. This is how you merge cells across rows and columns in excel.
   

How to unmerge cells in excel

 To unmerge cells the steps are nearly the same, let’s see:

1. Select the cells to unmerge.
   
   
   
2. Under Home tab, select the Merge option dropdown and select Unmerge Cells.
   
   
   
3. This was how to unmerge cells or split cells in excel.
   

Limitations with Merging Cells

Merging cells in a good way to organize data visually but it also creates lot of problems when you try to analyze the data. Here are the limitations of merging cells in excel:

1. After merging only, the data in upper left cell is kept rest is deleted. So you have to be careful when you merge.
2. “Sort” will not work on ranges which have merged cells.
3. Formulas which contain merged cells might not return the correct value.

Other important formulas

Here are some other interesting articles that you might like:

1. Hide column in excel using simple steps
2. How to freeze a column in excel
3. Hide sheet in excel using 3 quick steps

Conclusion

This was all about how to combine cells in excel.

We hope you learned how to merge and unmerge cells in excel for different needs.

In case you have any questions or doubts regarding merging excel cells please feel free to share them down below in the comment section and our team will answer them.