Merging cells in Google Sheets can enhance your spreadsheet’s organization and appearance, whether you’re combining cells in rows, columns, or both. A common scenario is when you have a shared header spanning multiple columns, and merging the cells creates a cohesive look.
In this tutorial, I’ll guide you through the steps to merge cells both horizontally and vertically in Google Sheets. Additionally, we’ll discuss some important considerations to keep in mind when using this feature.
Note the example above. How would you merge cells in this spreadsheet? I’ll discuss in the example below.
What Is Merging Cells In Google Sheets
Merging cells in Google Sheets means combining cells into one. This usually happens without affecting the rest of the cells. The Google Sheet merge cells option has three options to merge all, horizontally, and vertically. This means you can merge rows in Google Sheets as well as columns.
Merging cells is useful for extending titles or texts across multiple cells. It’s also useful when you’re making categories in your data and when making dashboards.
It is important to note that merging cells is different from merging texts. When you merge a cell, it will only retain the values in the first cell, while when combining text, you retain all the values, and you can use functions like the JOIN function.
How to Merge Cells In Google Sheets: Example
Suppose you have the dataset as shown below, and you want to merge the header row that has the text “Store #”.
Below are the steps to merge the selected cells:
- Select the cells that you want to merge
- Click the Format option in the drop-down menu
- Click on Merge cells option
- In the options that appear, click on ‘Merge horizontally.‘
The above steps would merge the three cells and make them one.
Another way to access the merge options is through the toolbar. When you click on the Google Sheets ‘Merge cells’ icon, it will merge all the cells. And if you click on the drop-down icon next to the merge button, it will show other options, such as merging horizontally or vertically.
Important Note: When you merge cells that already have some content in the cell, the final merge cell will only retain the content of the top-leftmost cell. The rest of the content will be lost. Thankfully, when this situation comes, Google Sheets will warn you with a prompt (as shown below) and only merge the cells when you click on OK.
How to Merge Cells In Google Sheets for iOS and Android?
There are two easy steps to merge cells on your mobile device in Google Sheets:
- Select the cells you wish to merge. Some phones will let you tap and drag. On others, you just have to move the little circle on the corner of the blue box to cover all the cells.
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- Click on the Merge button at the bottom.
This will immediately merge the cells you selected.
Another example of how to merge two cells in Google Sheets mobile is:
- Select the cells.
- Go to format.
- Tap the Cell tab.
- Toggle on the Merge option.
It is important to note that the Google Sheets app for mobile doesn’t have the options for how to merge columns in Google Sheets or rows. It can only merge all the cells that have been selected.
The Merge Cells Keyboard Shortcut In Google Sheets
There may not be a direct “how to merge cells in Google Sheets shortcut,” but there are still shortcuts that you can use to make your workflow faster.
Here’s how:
- Select the cell you want to merge.
- Hold and click Alt + O + M. This will take you directly to the merge options.
- Select Merge all.
Different Types of Merge Options in Google Sheets
If you followed the steps above, you would have already noticed that there are the following types of merge options:
- Merge all
- Merge horizontally
- Merge vertically
Let me quickly explain each of these Google spreadsheets merge cells options.
Merge All
When you use the ‘Merge all’ option, it will merge all the cells, and you will get the result which is one big merged cell (as shown below).
Note that this option only becomes available when you have selected a contiguous range of cells. If you select a non-contiguous range of cells, you will notice that this option is grayed out.
Merge Horizontally
When you select more than one row and use this option, cells in each row will be merged (as shown below).
In case you have only selected the cells in one row, then Merge all and Merge horizontally would do the same thing.
Merge Vertically
This option is for how to merge cells vertically in Google Sheets. When you select more than one column and use this option, cells in each column will be merged (as shown below):
In case you have only selected one column, then ‘Merge vertically’ and ‘Merge all’ would do the same thing.
Issues When Learning How to Merge in Google Sheets
While using merged cells, there are a few things you need to know.
Can’t Sort Columns with Merged Cells
The first issue with merge cells is that you can not sort a column that has merged cells.
If you try and do that, it will give you an error, as shown below.
Copies merged cells and not the value.
If you have three cells merged together with some text in it and you copy and paste this somewhere else in the worksheet, the result would be merged cells (with the same text and formatting).
In case you only want to copy and paste the content of the merged cells and do not get the result which itself are merged cells, you need to copy and then paste it as value.
So there are a few issues you need to keep in mind when working with merged cells in Google Sheets.
And in case you need to unmerge cells, you can easily do that. Simply select the cells that are merged, go to Format –> Merged cells, and then click on Unmerge.
Video: How to Merge Cells In Google Sheets
Frequently Asked Questions
Note that we also have a guide on the concatenate function in Google Sheets. It discusses combining cells with CONCAT() and CONCATENATE().
Want to ask a specific question about your spreadsheet? Do it with our chat application below.
Otherwise, check out some of the other frequently asked questions about merging cells.
How Do I Merge Cells Into One Row?
Can you merge cells in Google Sheets? Yes, you can! You just have to use the merge horizontally option from the menu. If you’re unsure what that is, we covered it above in the main text of this article. Check it out if you want to merge text or numbers.
Why Can’t I Merge Cells on Google Sheets?
If you can’t use any of the above-mentioned methods to merge cells, your spreadsheet might be locked. We have an article about locked cells that will help explain what that means and how to fix it.
Is There an Unmerge Option in Google Sheets?
If you want to unmerge cells, go to the Format menu. Then click “merged cells” in the dropdown menu. Then click “unmerge”.
Alternatively, you could use the split function. That option uses delimiters to split cells based on a specific letter, number, or punctuation mark. It’s a very quick way to unmerge cells.
Wrapping Up
That’s all there is to know about how to merge cells in Google Sheets. Whether you want to merge a first name and last name into a full name or combine any combination within a data range, these methods show exactly how to do it.
I hope you found this tutorial useful! Looking for more? Check out our guide on how to mail merge in Google Sheets.
Other Google Sheets tutorials you may find useful:
- How to Split Cell in Google Sheets (into separate columns)
- How to Combine Cells in Google Sheets (using simple Formulas)
- How to Group Rows & Columns In Google Sheets
- How to Separate First and Last Name in Google Sheets
- How to Compare Two Columns in Google Sheets
- How To Make Text Vertical In Google Sheets (Rotate Text)
