Jun 2, 2026

How to Concatenate in Excel (Combine Text from Cells, 2026)

Excel Concatenate Spreadsheets How-to Formulas Productivity

Concatenating means joining text from several cells into one — first and last names into a full name, address parts into one line, or values into an ID. Excel gives you three ways to do it; here’s when to use each.

1. The & Operator (Quickest)

The ampersand joins anything. To combine a first name in A2 and last name in B2 with a space between:

=A2&" "&B2

The " " is a literal space. You can chain as many pieces as you like:

=A2&" "&B2&", "&C2

This produces Jane Smith, Boston.

2. The CONCAT Function

CONCAT (Excel 2019/365) joins cells and, unlike the older CONCATENATE, accepts a whole range:

=CONCAT(A2:D2)

That mashes everything together with no separators — useful for building codes or keys. For separators between values, use TEXTJOIN instead.

Note: The legacy CONCATENATE function still works, but Microsoft recommends CONCAT and TEXTJOIN going forward.

3. TEXTJOIN (Best for Lists)

TEXTJOIN adds a delimiter between every value and can skip blanks — ideal for joining a range into a comma-separated list:

=TEXTJOIN(", ", TRUE, A2:A10)

", " — the delimiter placed between each value.
TRUE — ignore empty cells (so you don’t get double commas).
A2:A10 — the range to join.

4. Add a Line Break Between Pieces

To stack joined text on separate lines within one cell, use CHAR(10) as the delimiter and turn on Wrap Text:

=A2&CHAR(10)&B2

On Mac, use CHAR(13) if CHAR(10) doesn’t break the line.

5. Keep Numbers and Dates Formatted

Joining a date or currency value often shows the raw serial number. Wrap it in TEXT to control the format:

=A2&" — "&TEXT(B2, "mmm d, yyyy")

=A2&": "&TEXT(B2, "$#,##0.00")

6. Troubleshooting

Values run together with no space

You skipped the separator. Add &" "& (or your delimiter) between each cell reference.

A date shows as a number like 45810

Excel stored the date as a serial number. Wrap it in TEXT(cell, "format") as shown above.

#NAME? error

CONCAT or TEXTJOIN isn’t available in your Excel version (they need 2019/365). Use the & operator or CONCATENATE instead.

Result is text and won’t calculate

Concatenated output is always text. If you need a number, the join isn’t the right tool — keep the values in separate numeric cells.

Ready to automate your busywork?

Carly schedules, researches, and briefs you—so you can focus on what matters.

Get Carly Today →

Or explore our free tools