How to merge cells in Excel?

Merging cells in Excel allows you to combine two or more adjacent cells into a single, larger cell, which is often used for creating titles, labels, or visually grouping related data.

How to Merge Cells in Excel

To merge cells in Excel, follow these simple steps:

Select the Cells: Highlight the range of cells you wish to combine. These cells must be adjacent to one another.
Navigate to Home Tab: Go to the Home tab in the Excel ribbon at the top of your screen.
Choose Merge Option: In the Alignment group, locate the Merge & Center button. Click the small dropdown arrow next to it to see various merge options:
- Merge & Center: This is the most common option. It merges the selected cells into one and automatically centers the content horizontally within the new merged cell. Only the data from the top-leftmost cell is preserved; data in other selected cells will be deleted.
- Merge Across: This option merges selected cells in each row separately. For example, if you select a 3x3 range, it will create three merged cells, one for each row. This is useful for creating multi-row headings.
- Merge Cells: This option merges the selected cells into a single cell without applying any specific alignment. The content will remain aligned according to its original setting (usually left-aligned for text, right-aligned for numbers).
- Unmerge Cells: Use this option to revert a merged cell back to its original individual cells.

Step-by-Step for "Merge Cells" Option:

Select the cells you want to merge.
Go to the Home tab.
Click the dropdown arrow next to Merge & Center in the Alignment group.
Select Merge Cells.

Important Considerations and Tips

If the Merge Option is Dimmed: If you find the merge options are unavailable (dimmed), ensure you are not currently editing content within a cell. Also, verify that the cells you intend to merge are not part of an Excel Table (formatted as a Table using Insert > Table). To merge cells within a table, you must first convert the table back to a normal range.
Preserving Data: When merging cells, only the content from the top-left cell of your selection is retained. Data in all other selected cells will be discarded. Excel will usually warn you about this before proceeding.
Alignment After Merging: If you want to merge cells but prefer the content not to be centered, select the merged cell after applying the merge. Then, go to the Home tab, and in the Alignment group, choose your desired alignment option (left, center, or right) to reposition the text.
Impact on Sorting and Filtering: Merged cells can sometimes cause issues with sorting and filtering data, as they break the standard grid structure. It's often recommended to use "Center Across Selection" (found in the Format Cells > Alignment tab) for titles spanning multiple columns if you need to maintain sortable data.

Example of Merge Options

Here's a quick overview of how different merge options behave:

Initial Selection	Merge Option Chosen	Result
A1: "Header"	Merge & Center	Cell A1, B1, C1 become one merged cell, "Header" centered.
B1: "Data 1"
C1: "Data 2"
A1: "Row 1 Col 1"	Merge Across	A1:C1 merged, A2:C2 merged, A3:C3 merged.
A2: "Row 2 Col 1"
A3: "Row 3 Col 1"
A1: "Label"	Merge Cells	A1 and B1 become one merged cell, "Label" remains left-aligned.
B1: "Value"

By understanding these options, you can effectively use cell merging to enhance the visual presentation of your Excel worksheets.