Question

Excel: Connect cells - it's that easy

Answer 1

Excel: merge cells - the right way!

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Merging two cells in Excel is done with a few clicks of the mouse. We'll show you what to do..

In Microsoft Word in particular, we are familiar with the convenient functions "Merge cells" and "Split cells" to join rows or columns. In Microsoft Excel, this is also very easy per se, but you have to be aware of a few things. There are also several ways in which exactly you can merge the cells. In the following we explain everything you need to know.

Excel: merge cells - the right way!

To connect cells, you have to mark them with a click of the mouse. Then click in the " Start " tab on the small arrow next to the symbol for connecting cells (see picture).

Now it's your choice how you want to connect the cells. The option that Excel suggests is " Join and Center ", but you have even more options. Caution: In any case, you should make sure that only the content in the top, left-hand cell remains in the cell network. So it is a good idea to connect cells first and then fill them with content. Have you connected rows or columns, but now want to separate them again? Here is the tutorial on how to split a cell in Excel.

In the following we explain the different ways to connect cells:

• Merge and Center
  
  If you select this option, the two cells will be merged. The cell contents are not displayed left or right justified as is usually the case, but centered directly. You can make optimal use of this if you want to add headings to individual sections of your Excel spreadsheet. The " Connect and Center " option works across columns and rows. So you can join a section that spans two columns and two rows into one large cell.

• Merge via
  
  With the option " Merge via " you can select several columns and rows at the same time, but the cells are only merged within the same row. For example, if you select a range of two columns and two rows, you will get a range of one column and two rows.

• Connect cells
  
  With the " Connect cells " function, you can connect your cells across columns and rows in the classic way. The difference to " Merge and center cells " is that the cell you have created will ultimately remain left or right-justified and will not be automatically centered.

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