What is how to combine cells in excel?

To combine cells in Excel, you can use the Merge & Center feature or the CONCATENATE function (or the & operator).

• Using Merge & Center:

  • Select the cells you want to merge.

  • Go to the "Home" tab in the Excel ribbon.

  • In the "Alignment" group, click the "Merge & Center" button (or the dropdown arrow next to it).

  • Choose the desired merge option:

    • Merge & Center: Merges the selected cells into one cell and centers the content. (Related: https://www.wikiwhat.page/kavramlar/Merge%20and%20Center)
    • Merge Across: Merges the cells in each row separately.
    • Merge Cells: Merges the selected cells into one cell without centering the content.
    • Unmerge Cells: Separates a merged cell back into individual cells.

  • Important Note: Merging cells only keeps the content from the upper-leftmost cell of the selection. All other data in the merged cells will be deleted. Excel will usually warn you about this.

• Using CONCATENATE Function or & Operator:

  • This method allows you to combine the values of cells into a single cell without actually merging the cells themselves. This preserves the individual cell structure.

  • CONCATENATE function: =CONCATENATE(cell1, cell2, cell3, ...) where cell1, cell2, etc. are the cell references containing the text you want to combine. (Related: https://www.wikiwhat.page/kavramlar/CONCATENATE%20Function)

  • & operator: =cell1 & " " & cell2 & " " & cell3 This is often a simpler way to achieve the same result. The & operator joins the values of the cells together. You can include spaces ( " " ) or other text between the cell references as needed. (Related: https://www.wikiwhat.page/kavramlar/&%20Operator)

  • Example: If cell A1 contains "Hello" and cell B1 contains "World", =CONCATENATE(A1, " ", B1) or =A1 & " " & B1 in cell C1 will display "Hello World".

• Choosing the Right Method:

  • Use Merge & Center primarily for formatting purposes (e.g., titles, headings) when you don't need to maintain the individual cell data. Be aware that merged cells can sometimes cause problems with sorting, filtering, and other Excel functions.
  • Use CONCATENATE or & to combine text data from multiple cells while preserving the underlying cell structure, which is generally better for data manipulation and analysis.