How to combine rows in Excel

You can watch a video tutorial here.

Combining rows in Excel is most often used when formatting tables, to make the table more readable.  When a value is repeated multiple times across many rows, within the same column, it is better to combine the rows so that the value is displayed only once. If the rows to be merged are blank, then the solution is simple. If the rows contain data, then there are different solutions depending on whether all the data is to be retained or not. 

Option 1 – Only the data in the first row is to be retained

Step 1 – Select the rows to be combined

Step 2 – Navigate to the Merge menu

  • Go to the Home menu
  • Expand the Merge & Center option on the Alignment section

Step 3 – Merge the cells

  • Select Merge & Center
  • An error message with be displayed
  • Click OK

Step 4 – Align the data

  • With the Merge & Center option, the data from the top row is positioned at the bottom of the cell, in the center
  • With the Merge Cells option, the data from the top row is positioned at the bottom of the cell, aligned to the left
  • Use any of the options in the Alignment section to align the data in the cell.
  • This action can be reversed using the Unmerge Cells option

Option 2 – Data in all the rows is to be retained

Step 1 – Open the clipboard

  • Go to the Home menu
  • Open the Clipboard

Step 2 – Copy the data

  • Select the rows to be merged and click Ctrl+C
  • The data will be copied onto the clipboard

Step 3 – Paste the data into the top cell

  • Double-click on the top cell or place the cursor on the cell and click F2
  • Delete the data in the cell
  • Click on the item in the clipboard

Step 4 – Navigate to the Merge menu

  • Select Home > Alignment > Merge & Center

Step 5 – Merge the cells

  • Select Merge & Center
  • An error message with be displayed
  • Click OK

Step 6 – Align the data

  • With the Merge & Center option, the data from the top row is positioned at the bottom of the cell, in the center
  • With the Merge Cells option, the data from the top row is positioned at the bottom of the cell, aligned to the left
  • Use any of the options in the Alignment section to align the data in the cell.
  • This action can be reversed using the Unmerge Cells option