Merging / Unmerging Cells in Excel

   Overview   

You can quickly merge or unmerge a range of cells in an Excel spreadsheet.  Note that when you merge several cells, only the upper-right cell value is maintained.

1. Step 1

Excel Spreadsheet displayed with Cell R2 highlighted

Within a worksheet, choose the first cell in the range of cells that you want to merge, then press and hold the [Shift] key.

Example shown here: cell R2 .

 

2. Step 2

Excel Spreadsheet displayed with the Cell U2 highlighted

From the row and column headers, select the final cell from the range of cells you want to merge, then release the [Shift] key.  

Example shown here: click cell U2 then release the [Shift] key.

3. Step 3

Excel Spreadsheet displayed with the Home tab ribbon and the Merge & Center drop-down arrow highlighted

The selected cells are highlighted.

On the Home tab ribbon, click the Merge & Center drop-down arrow.

4. Step 4

Excel Spreadsheet displayed with the Merge & Center option highlighted

From the drop-down menu, click the Merge & Center option.

5. Step 5

Dialog popup message displayed with the OK button highlighted

A dialog message is displayed, notifying you that merging cells only keeps the upper left values and discards other values.  

In this example, only the R2 value would be saved.

To complete the process of merging the selected cells, click the OK button.

6. Step 6

Excel Spreadsheet displayed with the Merge and Center ribbon and Cells, R2 - U2 highlighted

The selected cells are merged.

To unmerge the cells, click the Merge & Center drop-down arrow again.

7. Step 7

Excel Spreadsheet displayed with the Umerge Cells option highlighted

Click the Umerge Cells option.

8. Step 8

Excel Spreadsheet displayed with Cells, R2 - U2 highlighted

The selected cells are unmerged.

Note: After unmerging the selected cells, you can edit the data in each cell.   
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