How to Concatenate in Excel

Last updated on November 11th, 2026 at 06:04 pm

Excel joins text with the ampersand: in an empty cell, =A2&" "&B2 puts A2 and B2 together with a space between them. For more cells, TEXTJOIN adds the separator and can skip blanks, as in =TEXTJOIN(" ",TRUE,A2:C2). CONCAT joins a range with no separator, and the older CONCATENATE still works. As Microsoft’s TEXTJOIN function page notes, CONCAT and TEXTJOIN need Excel 2019 or later, or Microsoft 365.

Which method should you use?

“Concatenate” just means joining pieces of text end to end. All of the methods below give the same kind of result, so pick the one that fits your data:

• Two or three cells: the ampersand (&). It is short, works in every version, and lets you put different punctuation between each piece.
• Several cells with the same separator, or rows with blanks: TEXTJOIN.
• A range with no separator at all: CONCAT.
• Workbooks that must open correctly in Excel 2016 or older: the ampersand or CONCATENATE.
• A one-time job where you don’t want formulas: Flash Fill.

If your only goal is a first and last name with a space, the shorter walkthrough on combining two columns with a space covers that case step by step.

Does the same formula work in Google Sheets?

The ampersand, CONCATENATE and TEXTJOIN work the same way there. Google Sheets’ CONCAT is different: it joins only two values, so use the ampersand or TEXTJOIN for anything longer.

Sample data used in this guide

The examples use a small list with headers in row 1. Column A holds first names, column B last names, column C cities, column D due dates, column E amounts and column F scores:

• Row 2: Alex, Rivera, Denver, 3/15/2026, 1234.5, 92%
• Row 3: Jordan, Lee, (city left blank), 4/1/2026, 89, 85%
• Row 4: Priya, Shah, Austin, 5/20/2026, 5000, 100%

Two terms come up often. A separator (Excel’s help calls it a delimiter) is the character you put between items, such as a space or a comma. A text string is any text typed inside double quotation marks in a formula; Excel copies it into the result exactly as written.

Method 1: Join cells with the ampersand (&)

1. Click the cell where you want the combined text, such as G2. Use an empty column so you don’t overwrite data.
2. Type =, then click cell A2. Excel adds A2 to the formula.
3. Type &" "& (ampersand, quote, space, quote, ampersand), then click cell B2. The formula now reads =A2&" "&B2.
4. Press Enter. The cell shows Alex Rivera, and the formula bar still shows the formula when you select the cell.

5. To fill the rest of the column, select G2 and double-click the small square at its bottom-right corner (the fill handle), or drag it down. Each row now shows its own full name.

You can mix in any punctuation or words, as long as they sit inside quotes. For example, =B2&", "&A2&" ("&C2&")" returns Rivera, Alex (Denver). This is the method shown in Microsoft’s guide to combining text from two or more cells. A related walkthrough on merging first and last names adds middle names and “Last, First” layouts.

Method 2: Use CONCAT to join a range

CONCAT is the modern replacement for CONCATENATE. Its main advantage is that it accepts a range, so you don’t have to click every cell:

1. Click an empty cell and type =CONCAT(.
2. Drag across A2:C2, or type the range.
3. Type ) and press Enter. The result is AlexRiveraDenver.

Notice there are no spaces. CONCAT never adds separators, so it suits data that already contains its own spacing, such as building a product code from parts. To add spaces, list the items one at a time, as in =CONCAT(A2," ",B2), or switch to TEXTJOIN.

According to Microsoft’s CONCAT reference, the function takes up to 253 text arguments, and if the result is longer than 32,767 characters (the most a cell can hold) it returns #VALUE!.

Method 3: Use TEXTJOIN for separators and blank cells

TEXTJOIN is the most practical choice for anything beyond two or three cells. Its syntax is =TEXTJOIN(delimiter, ignore_empty, text1, ...):

• delimiter: the separator in quotes, such as " " or ", ".
• ignore_empty: TRUE skips blank cells; FALSE keeps them.
• text1, …: the cells, ranges or text to join.

Examples with the sample data:

• =TEXTJOIN(" ",TRUE,A2:C2) returns Alex Rivera Denver.
• =TEXTJOIN(", ",TRUE,A2:A4) turns a column into one list: Alex, Jordan, Priya.
• =TEXTJOIN(", ",TRUE,A3:C3) returns Jordan, Lee. Because C3 is blank and ignore_empty is TRUE, there is no trailing comma.

Compare that last result with =A3&", "&B3&", "&C3, which returns “Jordan, Lee, ” with a stray comma and space at the end. Setting ignore_empty to FALSE in TEXTJOIN gives the same stray separator. That blank-cell handling is the main reason to choose TEXTJOIN for addresses and lists. Microsoft’s page lists a limit of 252 text arguments and the same 32,767-character result limit.

Is concatenating the same as Merge & Center?

No. Merge & Center joins the cells themselves and keeps only the upper-left value; Microsoft’s merge page warns that the contents of the other cells are deleted. Concatenation keeps every cell intact and builds a new text value from them.

Method 4: The older CONCATENATE function

=CONCATENATE(A2," ",B2) returns Alex Rivera, exactly like the ampersand version. Use it when you share files with people on Excel 2016 or earlier, or when you’re editing an older workbook that already uses it.

Keep three limits in mind. First, it doesn’t join a range: you have to list each cell. In Microsoft 365, =CONCATENATE(A2:C2) generally returns the three values separately (spilled into neighboring cells) instead of one joined value. Second, Microsoft’s CONCATENATE page caps it at 255 items and 8,192 characters. Third, Microsoft keeps it for backward compatibility and says it may not be available in future versions, so new formulas should use CONCAT, TEXTJOIN or the ampersand.

Combine whole columns with one formula (Microsoft 365)

Excel for Microsoft 365 supports dynamic arrays, so one formula can fill a whole column. Type this in G2 and press Enter:

=A2:A4&" "&B2:B4

Excel “spills” the results into G2, G3 and G4: Alex Rivera, Jordan Lee and Priya Shah. Edit the formula only in G2, the top cell. If anything is already in the cells below, you’ll see #SPILL! until you clear them, as explained on Microsoft’s spilled array page. In versions without dynamic arrays, stick with a single-row formula and the fill handle.

Add spaces, commas, quotes and line breaks

• Space: " " between items.
• Comma and space: ", ".
• Literal quotation marks: type two quote marks inside a text string for each one you want. ="Name: """&A2&"""" returns Name: “Alex”. If that’s hard to read, CHAR(34) produces the same quote character.
• Line break: CHAR(10), covered next.

Put each item on its own line

1. Type =A2&" "&B2&CHAR(10)&C2 and press Enter. At first the cell may look like one line, because the break doesn’t show yet.
2. With the cell selected, select Home > Wrap Text.
3. The cell now shows Alex Rivera on the first line and Denver on the second. If the row doesn’t grow, double-click the border below the row number.

CHAR(10) also works as a TEXTJOIN separator: =TEXTJOIN(CHAR(10),TRUE,A2:C2) stacks each value on its own line. Microsoft’s TEXT function page uses the same CHAR(10) plus Wrap Text approach. For typing a break by hand with Alt + Enter, see adding a line break inside an Excel cell, and for the setting itself, how Wrap Text works in Excel.

Keep number and date formats with TEXT

When you join a date, currency amount or percentage, Excel uses the stored value rather than what you see in the cell. So ="Due: "&D2 returns Due: 46096 (the date’s serial number), ="Total: "&E2 returns Total: 1234.5, and =A2&" scored "&F2 returns Alex scored 0.92.

Wrap the value in the TEXT function and give it a format code in quotes:

• ="Due: "&TEXT(D2,"mmm d, yyyy") returns Due: Mar 15, 2026.
• ="Total: "&TEXT(E2,"$#,##0.00") returns Total: $1,234.50.
• =A2&" scored "&TEXT(F2,"0%") returns Alex scored 92%.

The same codes work inside CONCAT and TEXTJOIN. Keep the original number in its own cell for calculations, because the joined result is text and won’t add up in SUM. More format codes are in converting a number to text in Excel.

Combine without a formula: Flash Fill

1. In the first empty cell next to your data (G2), type the result you want by hand: Alex Rivera.
2. Click G3 and select Data > Flash Fill, or press Ctrl + E in Excel for Windows.
3. Excel fills the rest of the column by copying your pattern. Check a few rows, because Flash Fill guesses the pattern from your example and works best when the data is consistent.

Flash Fill writes plain values, not formulas, so the results won’t change if you later edit the names. If nothing happens, Microsoft’s Flash Fill page explains how to turn on Automatically Flash Fill under File > Options > Advanced.

Will the combined cell update if I change the original?

Formula results update automatically. Flash Fill results and pasted values don’t, so rerun Flash Fill or rebuild the formula if the source data changes.

Excel for Mac and Excel for the web

The formulas in this guide are typed the same way on every platform, including the ampersand, CONCAT, TEXTJOIN, TEXT and CHAR(10). Microsoft lists CONCAT and TEXTJOIN for Microsoft 365, Excel 2024 and Excel 2021 on Mac, and TEXTJOIN for Excel on the web. The differences are in the menus:

• Mac: Wrap Text is on the Home tab, and Flash Fill is under Data > Flash Fill in Excel 2021, 2024 and Microsoft 365 for Mac.
• Excel for the web: Wrap Text is on the Home tab. If you can’t find Flash Fill there, use one of the formulas instead.

Keep the results and remove the formulas

Concatenation formulas depend on the source cells. If you delete column A or B, the results turn into #REF! errors. To keep the combined text:

1. Select the result cells and press Ctrl + C (Command + C on a Mac).
2. Right-click the same selection and choose Paste Values (the clipboard icon with 123) under Paste Options.
3. Click one of the cells. The formula bar now shows plain text such as Alex Rivera instead of a formula, which confirms it worked. Now you can safely delete the original columns.

Changed your mind? Press Ctrl + Z right away to undo the paste or the deletion. To go the other direction and split one column into several, see splitting columns in Excel.

Formulas as text or #NAME?

The formula appears instead of the result

Either the cell was formatted as Text before you typed, or Show Formulas is on. Check Formulas > Show Formulas first. If it’s off, set the cell format to General, click in the formula bar and press Enter.

#NAME? error

Either a text string is missing a quotation mark, the function name is misspelled, or you’re using CONCAT or TEXTJOIN in a version that doesn’t have them (such as a standalone Excel 2016). Check the quotes first, then switch to the ampersand if the version is the problem.

Words run together, or there are double spaces

Add " " between items. If you see double spaces, the source cells probably contain extra spaces; wrap each reference in TRIM, as in =TRIM(A2)&" "&TRIM(B2).

Extra commas where cells are empty

Switch to TEXTJOIN with ignore_empty set to TRUE.

Dates show as five-digit numbers or amounts lose their dollar sign

Wrap the value in TEXT with a format code, as shown in the numbers and dates section.

The line break doesn’t appear

Turn on Wrap Text for the formula cell. CHAR(10) is in the result, but Excel only shows it as a new line when wrapping is on.

#VALUE! error

With CONCAT or TEXTJOIN, this usually means the joined text would be longer than 32,767 characters. Join a smaller range.

Start with =A2&" "&B2 on one row, confirm the result, then fill it down. Once that feels comfortable, try TEXTJOIN on a list with blank cells. If formulas are still new to you, the primer on entering a formula in Excel explains cell references and the fill handle in more detail.