Giving you the opportunity to work quickly and efficiently without needing to download any specific programs, while also ensuring all of your documents and data are safely stored online and thus accessible from any device, Google Sheets has quickly become one of the most popular spreadsheet editing software. However, if you are new to Sheets, some aspects might be a bit unfamiliar or confusing.
Merging cells might be one of these aspects, although the action is necessary when it comes to working with data. To help you out, here is a quick and simple guide detailing how you can effortlessly merge cells using Google Sheets:
Available merging options in Sheets
Before you attempt to merge any cells in Google Sheets, it’s worth mentioning that there are three types of merges available. Here’s what they are, and what they do:
- Merge all – The first option allows you to merge all of the cells you’ve selected, turning them into one large cell. However, keep in mind that this option is only available for use when you’ve highlighted an adjacent collection of cells.
- Merge horizontally – The second option gives you the opportunity to merge all cells in a horizontal row into one cell. Even if you have highlighted several rows, this option only merges according to the horizontal cells.
- Merge vertically – Similarly, the third option allows you to merge all cells in a vertical column into one cell. Even if you have highlighted several columns, this option only merges according to the vertical cells.
Merging cells in Google Sheets
Now that you know which types of merging options are available in Sheets, you can select your preferred method, and start merging cells. Here’s how:
- Highlight all the cells which you would like to combine.
- At the top of the screen, press the Format button.
- Here, go to Merge Cells, and then select your preferred merging method (All, Horizontally or Vertically).
Note: Instead of going to the Format section, you could also utilize the Merge Cells icon in the toolbar (a divided square with two arrows). While clicking on the icon will merge all cells automatically, you can also press on the down arrow next to the icon to choose your preferred merging method.
And there you have it! As long as you know where to look, and which options are available to you, you can effortlessly merge any cells in Google Sheets in just a couple of quick steps.
