How to Merge Cell Contents in Excel 2007

Excel 2007 includes a "Merge" command to unite two or more cells.

Microsoft Excel 2007 allows you to merge two or more cells by rows or columns. For example, you can insert a title centered in a long merged cell across the top of multiple columns. Excel 2007 offers a "Merge & Center" command with three choices: Merge & Center, Merge Across and Merge Cells. The "Home" tab on the command Ribbon allows you to format the merged cell for a custom look on the worksheet.

Instructions

1. Open the Excel worksheet.

2. Click the "Home" tab on the command Ribbon.

3. Click and drag on the two or more cells to merge. A heavy black outline will form around the selected cells. The column headers above the outlined cells will turn a different color.

4. Click the down-arrow for the "Merge & Center" command in the "Alignment" group. The drop-down menu offers three merge formats: Merge & Center, Merge Across, Merge Cells. "Merge & Center" centers the text within the larger cell. "Merge Across" retains the left-aligned text in the row. "Merge Cells" unites the cells and keeps the data from the upper-left cell.

5. Click on one merge format. The cells will merge to appear as one larger cell. The heavy black outline will disappear.

6. Save this worksheet.

Tips & Warnings

• To unmerge the cells, click on the "Merge & Center" drop-down menu. Click on "Unmerge Cells." The merged cell will separate into multiple cells.

• If data is already entered into two or more selected cells, the "Merge" command will retain data for only the upper-left cell. Try merging the empty cells before entering the data.

References

• Microsoft Office: Support, Excel 2007, Merge and Unmerge Cells

Resources

• Microsoft Office: Merge Cells Wizard for Excel
• Microsoft Office: Combine the Contents of Multiple Cells