In Excel, we often deal with data that looks neat in columns and rows. But sometimes, you may want to make a heading by combining two or more cells. That’s where the Merge Cells feature comes in.
In this guide, we’ll explain all the merge options in Excel — Merge & Center, Merge Cells, Merge Across, and Unmerge Cells — along with shortcuts, examples, and tips to use them wisely.
What is Merge Cells?
Merge Cells is an option in Excel that allows you to combine two or more cells into one bigger cell. This is mainly used for creating headings, titles or a clean layout in your worksheet.
For example, if you have text in the middle of a table like a heading, you can merge multiple cells across a row to make the heading appear nicely in the center.
Instead of having text squeezed into a single small cell, merging makes it look cleaner and more presentable.
How to Merge Cells in Excel?
Here’s how you can merge cells step by step:
Using Ribbon:
- Select the cells you want to merge.
- Go to the Home tab on the Ribbon.
- In the Alignment group, click the Merge & Center button.
- Merge & Center: This merges the selected cells and aligns the text right in the center. Perfect for titles and headers.
- Merge Across: Merges cells across rows but keeps the columns separate. Handy when you want row-wise merging.
- Merge Cells: Combines the selected cells into one, but keeps the text left-aligned..
- Unmerge Cells: Quickly separates merged cells back into individual ones.
- Your selected cells will merge into one, and the text will be centered.
Using Keyboard Shortcut:
Instead of moving your mouse every time, you can use quick keyboard combinations to merge or unmerge cells in seconds. All these shortcuts start with the Alt key (which activates the ribbon), followed by the letters in sequence:
- Alt + H + M + C → Merge & Center
- Alt + H + M + M → Merge Cells
- Alt + H + M + A → Merge Across
- Alt + H + M + U → Unmerge Cells
Pro Tip: You don’t need to press all keys at once. First select the cells you want to merge, then press Alt first, release it, and then type H, M, and the final letter one by one.
Things to Remember:
When you merge cells, only the content in the top-left cell will remain. Excel will remove other data from the selected cells.
Merging cells can sometimes make sorting and filtering data tricky. Use it mainly for formatting and headings, not for raw data management.
Why Use Merge Cells?
- To create neat headings or titles in reports.
- To make your sheet look more organized and professional.
- To highlight important sections in your data.
Example:
Let’s say you want to create a heading for your table:
Merge & Center:
- Select cells A1, B1, and C1.
- Go to the Home tab on the Ribbon.
- In the Alignment group, click the Merge & Center button directly or click on the dropdown.
- Click Merge & Center.
- Now the text will appear centered across all three columns.
Merge Across:
- Select a range that covers multiple rows and columns (e.g., `A2:D5`).
- Go to Home → Alignment → Merge & Center dropdown → Merge Across.
- At this point, Excel shows a warning prompt.
- “Merging cells only keeps the upper-left value and discards the other values.”
- If you click OK, Excel will merge each row.
- If you click Cancel, nothing will be changed.
- Click OK. Now, Excel merges each row separately across the selection but does not merge multiple rows together.
Effect: Only the top-left value in each row will remain. Other values in the merged row will be deleted.
Merge Cells:
- Select a range of cells (e.g., A1:C1).
- Go to Home → Alignment → Merge & Center dropdown → Merge Cells.
- Now, Excel shows a warning prompt:
“Merging cells only keeps the upper-left value and discards the other values.”
- If you click OK, Excel merges the selection into a single larger cell, keeping only the top-left value.
- If you click Cancel, no changes will be made.
Effect: All selected cells become one big cell. The content is not centered (unlike Merge & Center).
Unmerge Cells
- Select the merged cell(s).
- Go to Home → Alignment → Merge & Center dropdown → Unmerge Cells.
Effect:
The merged cell breaks back into individual cells.
Only the top-left value from the merged cell remains, the rest of the cells will be empty.
Merges cells row by row, across columns, but does not merge multiple rows together. The Merge Cells feature in Excel is a simple but powerful way to make your sheets look organized and professional. Whether it’s for creating a neat title, formatting reports, or making data stand out, merging cells adds a touch of clarity to your work. Just remember to use it wisely—mainly for presentation, not data handling.