Search Contextures Sites

Combine Cells in Excel

You can combine cells in Excel -- join data from multiple cells into one cell, either "As is", or with additional text and formatting. Also, you can combine text, and the result of a function.

Combine Text from Multiple Cells
Add Spaces to Combined Text
Combine Cells With Text and a Number
Combine Cells With Text and a Formatted Date
TEXT Function Formatting Examples
Excel Combine Text Video


Combine Text from Multiple Cells

To combine text from multiple cells into one cell, use the & (ampersand) operator.

  1. Select the cell in which you want the combined data
  2. Type an = (equal sign) to start the formula
  3. Click on the first cell
  4. Type the & operator (shift + 7)
  5. Click on the second cell
  6. Press Enter to complete the formula

 

 


Add Spaces to Combined Text

When you combine cells with text using the above formula, there is no space between the first and last names. To insert a space, you can include a text string in the formula.

  1. Select the cell in which you want the combined data
  2. Type an = (equal sign) to start the formula
  3. Click on the first cell
  4. Type the & operator
  5. Type " " (double quote, space, double quote)
  6. Type the & operator
  7. Click on the second cell
  8. Press Enter to complete the formula

 

 

 

 


Combine Cells With Text and a Number

You can combine cells to join a text string with a number from a cell.
In this example, text will be added to the payment terms.

  1. Select the cell in which you want the combined data
  2. Type the formula, with text inside double quotes. For example: ="Due in " & B3 & " days"
    Note: To separate the text strings from the numbers, end or begin the text string with a space.
  3. Press Enter to complete the formula

 

 

 


Combine Cells With Text and a Formatted Date

When you combine text with a date, you can format it by using the Text function. Without formatting, the date will appear as a number.

  1. Select the cell in which you want the combined data
  2. Type the formula, with text inside double quotes, and the date inside the TEXT function. For example:
    ="Today is " & TEXT(TODAY(),"dddd")
  3. In the TEXT function, the date is the first argument, and the formatting is the second argument.
    In this example, the TODAY function returns the current date. The "dddd" formats the date as the full weekday name.
  4. Press Enter to complete the formula

 


    Date without formatting


      Date with formatting


TEXT Function Formatting Examples

Format a date as 12/31/04:
  ="Payment is due " & TEXT(A2,"mm/dd/yyyy")

Format a number as currency:
  ="Amount due: " & TEXT(A3,"$#,##0.00")& " USD"

Format a number as a percentage:
   ="Your score is " & TEXT(A4,"0.00%")

Format a number as a fraction:
   ="Hours worked: " &TEXT(A5,"# ?/?")

 

 

Excel Combine Text Video

Watch this short Excel video tutorial to see the steps for combining text and formatting the results.

Excel Function Tutorials

Excel Sum Functions -- Sum Cells  
Excel VLOOKUP Function  
Excel INDEX / MATCH Functions  
Excel Count Functions -- Count Cells  
Excel INDIRECT Function  

Excel Video Tutorials for Functions:

 

Learn how to create Excel dashboards.

       Home     Excel Tips     Excel Files     The Excel Store     Blog     Contact

 

Privacy Policy

 

Contextures Inc., Copyright ©2012
All rights reserved.

 

Last updated: October 5, 2011 8:37 PM