Merge and unmerge cells

Merge cells

Merge two or more cells by following these steps:

1. Select two or more adjacent cells you want to merge.

   : Make sure that the data you want to retain is in the upper-left cell, and keep in mind that all data in the other merged cells will be deleted. To retain any data from those other cells, simply copy it to another place in the worksheet—before you merge.

2. On the Home tab, select Merge & Center.
   

Unmerge cells

If you need to reverse a cell merge, click onto the merged cell and then choose Unmerge Cells item in the Merge & Center menu (see the figure above).

Split text from one cell into multiple cells

You can take the text in one or more cells and distribute it to multiple cells. This is the opposite of concatenation, in which you combine text from two or more cells into one cell.

For example, you can split a column containing full names into separate First Name and Last Name columns:

Follow the steps below to split text into multiple columns:

1. Select the cell or column that contains the text you want to split.

   : Select as many rows as you want, but no more than one column. Also, makes sure that are sufficient empty columns to the right—so that none of your data is deleted. Simply add empty columns, if necessary.

2. Select Data >Text to Columns, which displays the Convert Text to Columns Wizard.

3. Select Delimited > Next.

4. Check the Space box and clear the rest of the boxes. Or, check both the Comma and Space boxes if that's how your text is split (such as "Reyes, Javiers", with a comma and space between the names). A preview of the data appears in the panel at the bottom of the popup window.

   

5. Select Next and then choose the format for your new columns. If you don't want the default format, choose a format such as Text, and then select the second column of data in the Data preview window, and select the same format again. Repeat this for all of the columns in the Preview window.
   

6. Select the button to the right of the Destination box to collapse the popup window.

7. Anywhere in your workbook, select the cells that you want to contain the split data. For example, if you are dividing a full name into a first name column and a last name column, select the appropriate number of cells in two adjacent columns.

   

8. Select the button to expand the popup window again, and then select Finish.

   

Merge cells

1. Select the first cell and press Shift while you select the last cell in the range you want to merge.

   : Make sure only one of the cells in the range has data.

2. Select Home > Merge & Center.

   

   If Merge & Center is dimmed, make sure you’re not editing a cell or the cells you want to merge aren’t inside a table.

   : To merge cells without centering the data, select the merged cell and then select the left, center or right alignment options next to Merge & Center.

   If you change your mind, you can always undo the merge by selecting the merged cell and selecting Merge & Center.

Unmerge cells

To unmerge cells immediately after merging them, press Ctrl + Z. Otherwise do this:

• Select the merged cell and select Home > Merge & Center.

  

  The data in the merged cell moves to the left cell when the cells split.