Comments on: CONCATENATE in Excel: combine text strings, cells and columns

In your Excel workbooks, the data is not always structured according to your needs. Often you may want to split the content of one cell into individual cells or do the opposite - combine data from two or more columns into a single column. Continue reading →

Comments page 4. Total comments: 449

  1. Hello!
    I have a sales record covering 3 years and i want to report on the highest sales made per year. Can i nest the (=Max) function into a (=Concat) one?
    So that it reads "Gross sales for 2018 were highest at $35000"

    1. Hello!
      Of course you can use something like this

      =CONCAT("Gross sales for 2018 were highest at $",MAX(C1:C18))

      Function arguments can be text, numbers, cell references, other Excel functions

  2. How to insert a character in the middle of string/number?
    eg: 12345 -> 123-45

    1. Hello!
      If I understand your task correctly, the following formula should work for you:

      =CONCATENATE(LEFT(B12,ROUND(LEN(B12)/2,0)),"-", RIGHT(B12,LEN(B12)-ROUND(LEN(B12)/2,0)))

      Hope this is what you need.

  3. I would like to create a password generator, using a list of words. Then be able to grab 4 random words.
    I can create a number with RANDBETWEEN, but how do I convert that to a cell to CONCATENATE?

    1. Hello Tom!
      If RANDBETWEEN selects numbers, for example, from 1 to 10, then each number can correspond to a word using the CHOOSE function. If you describe in more detail your task, initial data and the desired result, I can give more detailed advice.

    2. I think I solved my own question, this may not be the most elegant, but it worked.

      I have a list of words, numbers, and symbols in column I. 1 to 8000
      I want 4 random words combined together from the list of 8000
      Created four cells with =RANDBETWEEN(1,8000) let us assume the 4 cells created are L1, M1,N1, and O1
      in cell P1 I have =CONCATENATE("I",L1)
      in cell Q1 I have =CONCATENATE("I",M1)
      in cell R1 I have =CONCATENATE("I",N1)
      and in cell S1 I have =CONCATENATE("I",O1)

      Then in T1 I have
      =CONCATENATE((INDIRECT(P1)),"-",(INDIRECT(P1)),"-",(INDIRECT(Q1),"-",(INDIRECT(S1)))

      This returns word-made-up-password (of course the words in those cell in column I are different.
      Is there a better way?

      1. Correction:
        =CONCATENATE((INDIRECT(P1)),"-",(INDIRECT(Q1)),"-",(INDIRECT(R1),"-",(INDIRECT(S1)))

  4. I want to concatenate on my userform says: (Balance: and 10,000)Note 10,000 is a value on a textbox which can be different by selecting another information.

    1. Hello!
      I hope you have studied the recommendations in the above tutorial. If I got you right, the formula below will help you with your task:

      =CONCATENATE("Balance: ",A1)

      I hope this will help

  5. I am trying to get the cell to read:
    Assessed: 18%

    Current Formula
    ="Assessed: "&('C&BE'!E29/'C&BE'!E24)
    I want the text 'Assessed: ' and then I want to have the number 18% which comes from a different tab where 2 items are divided. This is what I get 'Assessed: 0.181818181818182' All I want to do is get this number to be a percentage but I can't seem to convert it to percentage. Using the 'Number Format' or 'Display Percentage' items don't convert it. Format Cell doesn't work. It's almost like the '&' function seems to negate these properties. [I have Mac 2011 version 14.7.7 (170905)

    1. I'm looking for the exact same function. Have you found a solution?

      1. Hello!
        The formula below will do the trick for you:

        =E24&" "&TEXT(E29,"###%")

        or

        =CONCATENATE(E24," ",TEXT(E29,"###%"))

        Hope this is what you need.

  6. Hello..
    In excel all the data is in Cell A1 coloumn and rows 1,2,3 so on. So i want to combine the name in Cell B1 coloumn.. So i am combine two rows using this formula =A1&A2 but i am facing problm that all the name are not belong in 2 rows they are separate in 3 rows or 4 rows.
    Example -
    Buff Milano
    Dk. Cog
    Buff Milano
    Red
    Buff Milano
    Grade B
    Black
    Buff Milano
    Grade B
    Black
    In this way i have a huge coloumn can any one solve my problem.. Is there any formula
    Note :
    I wan to find out this in Coloumn B -
    Buff Milano Dk. Cog
    Buff Milano Red
    Buff Milano Grade B Black

  7. Is there a way to concatenate an array (obtained as a result of a formula in a cell)?

    1. Hello!
      The CONCATENATE function and the & operator cannot combine a range of cells. Therefore, it is impossible to write a formula. You can use VBA or our ready-made solution.
      I'd recommend you to have a look at our Ablebits Data - Merge Cells.
      This tool is available as a part of our Ultimate Suite for Excel that you can install in a trial mode and use for 30 days for free: https://www.ablebits.com/files/get.php?addin=xl-suite&f=free-trial

  8. I want to know how to store alternate values in one cell. I am doing some soccer related collation using microsoft excel. For instance cell A1 is barcelona and cell B1 is juventus. I want cell C1 to represent barcelona OR juventus, I don't want cell C1 to represent barcelona AND juventus

  9. Before reading this article I concatenated cells by using the method of = and the cells I wanted, separated by spaces for the most part. This is my formula:
    = ( "Requisition" & " " & A39 &" : " & B39 & "- "& C39 & " - " & D39 & " " & E39)
    One of my cells was in currency (it was Cell E39). How can I make the information (the currency) hold its format when transferred to the next cell?
    F39 holds all the information input from A39 to E39. But when the information in E39 is transferred to F39, instead of seeing $210,000.00 I see 210000.

  10. Hi Is there any way to concat General non-text fields and output the result as a numeric? eg:
    Order Version Output as a number
    1234 1 12341
    1234 2 12342

    Thanks

    1. Hello Gary!
      If I understand your task correctly, please try the following formula:

      =VALUE(A1&B1)

      I hope this will help, otherwise please do not hesitate to contact me anytime.

  11. How can I concatenate values from two cells in to one cell, but skip few letters from one of the cell. For example.
    Cell A1 has - Mr Joe
    Cell B1 has - Smith
    Cell C1 should print "Joe Smith" skipping "Mr" from Cell A1 values.

    1. Hello Matt!
      The number of characters to skip is unknown. It can be from 0 to 4. Therefore, it is impossible to write a formula. You can use VBA or our ready-made solution.
      I'd recommend you to have a look at our Ablebits Tools - Split Names.
      This tool is available as a part of our Ultimate Suite for Excel that you can install in a trial mode and use for 30 days for free: https://www.ablebits.com/files/get.php?addin=xl-suite&f=free-trial

  12. How can I concatenate a data from regional data to a new sheet

    1. Hello Jossy!
      For me to be able to help you better, please describe your task in more detail. It’ll help me understand it better and find a solution for you. Thank you.

  13. I want to add concatenate formula but to remove some text from the existing values..
    How can i do that

    1. Hello!
      For me to be able to help you better, please describe your task in more detail. It’ll help me understand it better and find a solution for you. Thank you.

  14. I want sum of marks on sheet1 based on students count in Sheet marks and student count is located in sheet2

    I use formula count if to count students in a2 cell in sheet2
    In case i have 27 students
    A2=27
    Marks starts from row number 10

    I want sum of E coloum in sheet1
    E10 to value of A2+9=27
    My all sheets have different number of students
    And all sheets have count of students in A2 cell in perticular sheet.

    Help me

  15. If I have two cells, each with a formula to display length of service (years, months and days), is there a way for me to calculate the total of the years, months and days for each cell into one?

    Thanks!

  16. Any way to retain individual cell formatting (i.e., bold for the first element) in the concatenated cell?

  17. Very helpfull thanks

  18. Hi,
    Is there a way where I can concatenate three different cells by keeping one cell value as constant output
    A Output
    10 20 A;10;20
    15 21 A;15;21
    17 22 A;17:22

    Please suggest best formula to create above output. Thanks in Advance!!

  19. Suppose I have a file with columns A1:C3.
    Column A (A1:A3)= Apple, Banana, Carrot (each word in a separate row)
    Column B (B1:B3)= Red, Yellow, Orange (each word in a separate row)
    Column C (C1:C3)= Y, N, Y (each word in a separate row)

    I'd like to concatenate the words in column A into cell D1 contingent upon the value in the C column is "Y". For example I'd like the formula in D1 to return "Apple, Carrot" because Both A1 (Apple) and A3 (Carrot) have C1 and C3 with a "Y" string. Is there a way to concatenate with an IF statement argument in a separate column from what is being combined? Thanks in advance for your help!

    All the best,
    Whitney

    1. I would use an extra column, a working scratchpad column, hide it if you don't want it seen. E column where E1 is "IF(C1="Y", A1, "")". In other words, if C is Y, then copy A, otherwise make the cell blank. Then where you want the concatenated string, just "E1&E2&E3" (though I would think A4 is a more logical destination, this is essentially SUMIF but with text). The commas are harder, to not have one on the last. I would do "IF(C1="Y", A1&", ", "")" so all entries end in a comma, then in E4 put the concatenation, then where you WANT the concatenation you put "LEFT(E4, LEN(E4)-2)". That way E4 is your target string but ending with an extra comma and space, so this would remove them.

    2. While you could do something like
      =CONCATENATE(IF(A$3="Y";A1;"");" ";IF(B$3="Y";B1;"");" ";IF(C$3="Y";C1;"")),
      this would only work for a fixed range and for every column you would have to change the IF. What I would suggest is making an equivalent amount of columns to those you wish to concatenate, and populate them with =IF(A$3="Y";A1;""), and then combine those with concatenate.

  20. Is it possible to convert a concatenated formula to an actual formula?

    For example, I have 4 columns with the following:
    ='TM Receipts',!,P,16
    I concatenate those 4 columns to get "='TM Receipts'!P16"
    This is still a text string of course and I want to convert it a formula to give me the actual value of cell P16 on the TM Receipts worksheet.

    Is there a way to do this?

    1. after you have entered CONCATENATE formula, press.. F2 > F9 > Enter

    2. In other words, you want to then retrieve the contents of this P16... You want the command "INDIRECT". The argument it takes is a cell address you want to get, so in your example "INDIRECT("'TM Receipts'!P16"), useful for when you have to use a formula to construct an address. I use formulas like "INDIRECT("A"&(B1*8)+1)" all the time (where A is filled with identical groups of information taking 8 rows each, B is sequential numbers starting from 0, and I'm looking for the first row of each group. On line 0 this become A1, I get A1. On line 1 it's A9, etc). Be warned, formulas with INDIRECT don't update like other formulas do, so if you insert a row above P so that your data moves down one, INDIRECT doesn't care, it'll still get whatever is now in P16.

      1. I am not having any luck with this but I might be applying it incorrectly. I am trying to return the results in row 25 and a variable column. So in, say, D1 I would enter 'B' and then I'd get the value of B25. Unfortunately, =INDIRECT(D1 & "25") is returning 0 though. I hope that makes sense as I've been working on this for way too long and my brain is fried.

  21. Hi,

    I have list of products A to F. If i applied the slicer product A & product B, the table will get filtered with all the records which are having product A & B. However, i need only value of product A & product B and it should be updated with the separation (semicolon).

    I have tried =CONCATENATE(A1,";",A2,";",A3,";",A4,";",A5,";",A6,";",A7,";",A8,";",A9,";",A10) but here unable to check the unique value and its not pulling the filtered columns. Instead all the products from A1 to A10 its getting updated, while only Cell A2, A4 are having product A and A8,A9 are having product B.

    Could you please guide on how to achieve this.. Thank you once again..

  22. In "Column A" I have a Concatenated Value of "Column B"|"Column C"
    In "Column B" I have a list of Names
    In "Column C" I have a list of Sites
    I want to able to search on the concatenated value but Excel isn't able to find the result when I try to copy & paste...

    Ex:
    | A | B | C |
    1 |Martin|Montreal |Martin |Montreal |
    2 |Jayme|Jamaica |Jayme |Jamaica |

    So if I do CTRL+F and search for "Martin|Montreal" Excel doesn't find it.

    I have tried the concatenate function: CONCAT(A1,"|",B1)
    I have tried simply concatenating the text: (A1,"|",B1)
    I have tried TEXTJOIN("|",FALSE,A1,A2)

    All with the same result, if I search for the string in question or do lookups on the value, it cannot find it?

    Does anyone have any tips on how to concatenate values and be able to use them in VLOOKUP or other lookup functions?

    1. Sorry it didn't display to good but values are as such:
      Column A: Formula concatenating the strings in column A and B with a "|" separator
      Column B: Martin, Jayme
      Column C: Montreal, Jamaica

  23. Hello -
    After I complete a concatenation I would like to delete the source data without affecting the resulting text string. How do I do this?

    1. Hello Neli,

      Thank you for this good question!

      Just replace your concatenate formulas with their values. For this, use Excel's "Paste special - values only" feature. The detailed steps can be found in How to replace formulas with their values in Excel. I've added this tip to the tutorial for others to know.

  24. Thanks very much for tutorials, I like to know if there is a way to make just a cell behave as a normal calculator.
    i.e this cell should be capable of summing figures that appears in another cell, while keeping last cumulative figure visible.
    This other cell will be the key-in cell or active cell.
    Example:
    Cell 1: =2*5, Answer appears in Cell 2,
    Cell 1: =3*6.8, Answer is added to the previous value resulting from (2*5) and still appears in cell 2.

  25. Dear,
    I have 2 thing in a one cell of excel,"Words and numeric" how can i separate numeric and words in other 2 cells of excel,

  26. Please help me with a formula to return value(phone number)(with phone number format)from merged cells in another worksheet.

    IF($A$3="","",CONCATENATE('Work Order'!R4,'Work Order'!S4))

    Thank You!

  27. Please help for for number to words format using trim (concatenate)
    Ex. 10,000.00 will convert to words is
    *Ten thousand pesos only*
    10,000.50
    *Ten thousand pesos and 50/100 only*

    Thanks in advance!

  28. hi i have two columns with different value , need answer as shown
    having
    a 3
    a 4
    a 5
    b 2
    b 1
    c 3
    C 3
    Need Answer like :
    A 3,4,5
    B 2,1
    C 3,3

  29. Hi All,
    I have doubt in & function.
    Plz solve the issue.
    Eg : Invoice No. 8951 in A1 , Invoice date 20-03-2019 in A2 , \ in A3
    If i use & function in Excel, its shows 8951\43544
    my expectation is 8951\20-03-2019
    Is possible in Excel ?
    Plz revert

  30. Im so stumped to what this (below) indicates?
    "="&
    the formula it is used in is shown below.
    =SUMIF(logTable[Date],"="&D16,logTable[Amount])

    My question is, can i just eliminate the ("="&), i am receiving the same output without it? What does it indicate? If you need more information, i can provide.

    1. I apologize for the bluntness, thank-you so much for the opportunity to ask the question. This site so informative and helpful in every way. Excel is so challenging but, with your help, it is definitely manageable!

  31. How to concatenate specific words by excluding some specific words in excel. For e.g. If there are words like : A, B, C, FALSE, D. So how can i concatenate these to get the result as A_B_C_D

  32. could you please let me know how to get 300 number of rows data into one cell?

  33. i want to single cell value into multi cell

  34. I am trying to add +10 in a cell without adding 10 days to it. I need it to show +10:00. Any suggestions how I would do this?
    2019-08-04T02:30:00
    to
    2019-07-25T02:30:00+10:00

  35. How can I concatenate a sum of different sheet tab?

  36. cell a1 contains the value: 1992 - 1996
    cell b1 contains the formula: =CONCATENATE("=",A1)
    cell b1 displays: =1992 - 1996
    What I want is for cell b1 to now be treated as a formula and compute and show the value: -4
    Can that be done?

  37. I know there is a way to set a fixed cell for concatenation when combining multiple rows and columns of data. I have seen it done, but I can't remember how, and I can't find any examples.
    Here is an example of what I would like to do:
    Column A is the concatenated value
    Column B is a series of Levels starting in Row 2. Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 etc.
    Column C Row 2 has the word MECH
    Column D Row 2 has the word PLAN
    In the end I want Column A to show "Level 1 MECH PLAN" in Row 2, "Level 2 MECH PLAN" in Row 3, etc. How do you write the concatenation formula so that no matter what row it is in, it calls for Column C Row 2 and Column D Row 2, while calling for Column B whatever the current row is.
    Hope this is clear.... Thanks!

  38. Hi,
    I'm trying to automate something wherein I need to display upper case characters, as in abbreviations or acronyms to be displayed as upper case characters, separated by space.
    For examples, if I enter "IRR" it should display "I R R" in next cell.
    Your help would be greatly appreciated.
    Thank you.

  39. I really need some help i would like to take several dates MM/DD/YY that are like E2,F2,G2,H2 and so on and have them look like this 01/01/19, 01/02/19, 01/03/19, 01/04/19 is there a way i can do that ??? please help if you can

  40. I want to concatenate column cells from 1 to 5 in such a way that it should neglect the same row cell value. Please refer the following table here data1 to data5 are 5 cells of a column and in front of the cell is the required result of concatenation.
    data1 data2 data3 data4 data5
    data2 data1 data3 data4 data5
    data3 data1 data2 data4 data5
    data4 data1 data2 data3 data5
    data5 data1 data2 data3 data4

  41. I have a cell (B2). cell value is: SAHANSRA,NAVJOT This is Lastname,Firstname
    I am using: LEFT(B2,FIND(",",B2)-1) and MID(B2,FIND(",",B2)+1,10) respectively to pull the name apart and place them into separate cells.
    What I need to do is place the LASTNAME into a static array with spaces to fill for 30 characters total. The results of the Lastname formula is now in cell N25
    REPLACE(N25,(LEN(N25)+1),(30-(LEN(N25)))," ")
    I need the result of the last formula to look like "SAHANSRAbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb"
    where "b" is a space (22 of them) I thought this would give me my 22 spaces, but it only gives me 1.
    HELP!! thank you in advance.

  42. hi, how i can use concatenate with condition?
    for example i have 2 columns A & B and the condition is if we have same number in column B with different name in column A, and i need to add them in same cell (C).
    do we have i formula?
    A B C
    elie 1 elie,Rita
    Rita 1 elie,Rita
    Joseph 2 Joseph,Noha
    Noha 2 Joseph,Noha

  43. I have a question with what I am finding is a difficult if/then situation.
    Say I have a column with 3 separate values over hundreds of rows: AA BB or CC
    AA is unique but BB and CC ultimately will be the same.
    I need to concatenate 3 cells based off of the above breakdown.
    The first part will be DEF: (with the colon) which is common for all of the outputs.
    The next part will be either GHI:: or JKL:: depending on AA, BB or CC with JKL:: being associated with BB & CC designations.
    Then the last part is a unique number that will be on its own ######.
    The end result will need to be DEF:GHI::###### (AA value) or DEF:JKL::###### (BB or CC value) all depending on the values AA BB CC.

    Keep hitting a wall with figuring out the IF AA then GHI:: portion.

    Thanks,

    Mike

  44. How do I format after using concatentate using a formula for the two values?
    For example: =concatenate((d3/d4)," / " (d5/d4)) gives values like:
    1.425212521521 / 1.4526265654
    But, I only want these values to be 3 numbers after the decimal. Is this possible if the returned value is a text string?

  45. Hello I want to use concatenate function
    0000 1 /15-16

    I want 00001/15-16

    I am not getting

    1. Set Number Format to General.
      =CONCATENATE(A1,B1,C1)

      Regards,
      Taimoor

      1. Also Set Number format for your; 0000 to Text.

        Regards,
        Taimoor

  46. Hi there, I've been trying to combine these into one cell without losing the zeros infront of columns C & D but have failed. Can you please help?
    A1 B1 c1 d1
    P HHL 0007040 0114876823
    Thank you!

  47. 1 A Banana Closed
    2 B Apple Closed
    3 B Banana
    4 A Apple Closed
    5 A Apple Closed

    Dear Friend, Kindly help me out in above i want a formula in which excel itself concatenate values of column 1 in which all other values are same, like i want answer in one cell like (4,5) , because its other column values A Apple Closed are same.

  48. how to concatenate different characters within a cell???

  49. How can I combine values from different cells in one column?
    Eg.
    A B C D
    20 50 80 A = 20, B = 50, C = 80

  50. How do one sum up a value like this 75+17+46+05+28 already in a single cell.

    you find a lot of value like this in a single excel cell, how do one add it up 83+24+32+79+74

    53+21+59+82+65

    02+54+33+84+16

    86+22+59+34+04

    57+03+27+39+54

    1. Just add a + sign at the beginning

Post a comment



Thank you for your comment!
When posting a question, please be very clear and concise. This will help us provide a quick and relevant solution to
your query. We cannot guarantee that we will answer every question, but we'll do our best :)