How do I merge two cells in Google Sheets without deleting data?

How do I merge two cells in Google Sheets without deleting data?

Want to merge cells together in Google Sheets? The process is simple, but you’ll need to be careful not to lose some data. Here’s how to do it safely.

Merging cells in Google Sheets is a good way to combine data from multiple cells in a spreadsheet. You can merge cells across rows or columns, but you’ll need to be careful to do it in a way that doesn’t lose your data.

If you don’t know how to merge cells in Google Sheets, you can follow the steps outlined below.

Before Merging Cells in Google Sheets

Before you start merging your data in Google Sheets, you need to be aware of one of the biggest limitations. When you merge cells in Google Sheets, only the data from the top cell is saved. The rest of the data is lost and can’t be retrieved without undoing the change.

If you’re trying to merge data from multiple cells, you can’t use the default cell merging tool. Instead, you’d need to use a CONCATENATE function to merge the data

You can easily merge your cells in Google Sheets using either the format menu or the toolbar.

To merge cells in Google Sheets from the format menu:

  1. Open your Google Sheets spreadsheet.
  2. Select the cells you want to merge using your mouse.
  3. From the menu, select Format > Merge Cells.
  4. Select either Merge all, Merge vertically, or Merge horizontally.
    How do I merge two cells in Google Sheets without deleting data?

To merge cells in Google Sheets from the toolbar:

  1. Open your Google Sheets spreadsheet.
  2. Select your cells.
  3. Press the Merge Cells icon to merge all cells or press the downwards arrow icon next to it.
  4. If you press the downwards arrow, select Merge vertically or Merge horizontally, depending on your preference.
    How do I merge two cells in Google Sheets without deleting data?

Once you’ve merged the cells together, the cell size will appear bigger and take the combined position of the previous cells. 

How do I merge two cells in Google Sheets without deleting data?

How to Unmerge Cells in Google Sheets

If you’ve merged cells in Google Sheets, you can easily unmerge them afterward. You won’t be able to retrieve any lost data, but you can restore the individual cells to use again.

To unmerge cells in Google Sheets:

  1. Open your Google Sheets spreadsheet.
  2. Select the merged cell.
  3. Press the Merge Cells button on the toolbar.
  4. Alternatively, press Format > Merge cells > Unmerge.
    How do I merge two cells in Google Sheets without deleting data?

How to Merge Data from Cells in Google Sheets

You can’t merge cells in Google Sheets without losing data from some of the cells—the data from one cell replaces the rest. If you want to merge data from multiple cells, you can either do it manually or use a function like CONCATENATE to merge the data together in a new cell.

CONCATENATE works by merging the data from cells together and turning them into a combined text string. It doesn’t combine numbers by adding them—it will simply place them together. For example, if B1 contained the value 1 and B2 contained the value 2, a CONCATENATE formula that combined these cell values would return the result 12 and not 3.

How do I merge two cells in Google Sheets without deleting data?

For non-numerical values, CONCATENATE works the same way. If B1 contained a word (one) and B2 contained another word (two), CONCATENATE will return the words together (onetwo). You would need to format the original cells to ensure there are spaces or use ampersands (&) with empty text strings () to add a space.

How do I merge two cells in Google Sheets without deleting data?

To use CONCATENATE to merge data from cells in Google Sheets:

  1. Open your Google Sheets spreadsheet.
  2. Select a new cell, then select the formula bar.
  3. To use CONCATENATE, type =CONCATENATE( in the formula bar and add cell values or a cell range. Eg. =CONCATENATE(A2,B2).
    How do I merge two cells in Google Sheets without deleting data?
  4. If you want to add spaces between the cells, use an ampersand with an empty text string. Eg. =CONCATENATE(A3&” “&B3).
    How do I merge two cells in Google Sheets without deleting data?

Making Changes in Google Sheets

Using our guide above, you should be able to quickly merge or unmerge cells in Google Sheets. This is just one way you can make changes to your Google Sheets spreadsheet, allowing you to manipulate and analyze your data in different ways.

If you want to keep track of the changes you’ve made, you can view the edit history for a cell. If you want to try and make your spreadsheet more colorful, you could think about adding conditional formatting.

How do I merge two cells in Google Sheets without deleting data?

How do I merge two cells in Google Sheets and keep data?

First, open google sheets. Then select the cells you want to merge. Now click on the kind of merge you want from the options—Merge all, Merge horizontally and Merge vertically. Depending on your selection of the cells, you'll be able to see different kinds of options.

How do I merge cells in sheets without losing text?

"Concatenate" usually means to link something together in a series or a chain. This operation is used whenever you need to join text from multiple Google Sheets cells.

How do I merge cells without deleting content?

Combine text from two or more cells into one cell.
Select the cell where you want to put the combined data..
Type = and select the first cell you want to combine..
Type & and use quotation marks with a space enclosed..
Select the next cell you want to combine and press enter. An example formula might be =A2&" "&B2..

How do I merge rows without losing data?

To merge two or more rows into one, here's what you need to do: Select the range of cells where you want to merge rows. Go to the Ablebits Data tab > Merge group, click the Merge Cells arrow, and then click Merge Rows into One.