Google Sheets can work like the table you add to your Google Docs or Microsoft Word. You can merge a couple or more cells into a much bigger cell using the merge feature of the app. Why would you wish to merge cells? Formatting purposes, mostly.
You can make things like calendars or a Title Header on what’s normally a grid full of cells, columns, and rows by merging some of them together to make for a cleaner design all-in-all.
How to Combine Cells in Google Sheets
You have multiple ways to combine cells in Google Sheets but they all start out the same the first few steps. You can merge them horizontally, vertically, or in both directions. You can use the Format menu or the Merge button on the horizontal toolbar.
Step 1: Open a new Google Sheets spreadsheet.
Step 2: Select the cells, columns, or rows you wish to merge together. Let’s start simple with just a couple of cells for now.
Let’s proceed to the different ways you can merge those cells.
Method 1: Format Menu Merge
Step 1: Once you’ve selected the cells, go to the “Format” menu.
Step 2: Go to “Merge cells” and select “Merge all” (as in merge all the selected cells). Other options include “Merge vertically“, “Merge horizontally“, and “Unmerge“.
Step 3: Here are the results of “Merge all“. Your two cells have now merged together as one. This is also the result of “Merge horizontally” if you chose that instead since you’re merging cells horizontally.
You can also merge columns together by “Merge horizontally“.
If you were merging the cells or two rows vertically, the “Merge vertically” option would pop out along with “Merge all” and result in the following results.
You also have the option to unmerge any cells you’ve merged by gong to the “Merge cells” submenu and selecting “Unmerge“.
On the mobile app version of Google Sheets, the Merge button appears at the bottom of your screen as soon as you select two or more cells. You can either use it or ignore it.
Method 2: Horizontal Toolbar Merge
Step 1: Once you’ve selected the cells you want to merge, go to the horizontal toolbar and click on the Merge button or icon as shown below.
Step 2: Select the way you want to merge the cells as provided by the ensuing dropdown menu. The same options you’d get from the “Format” and “Merge cells” menu is present on the “Merge cell” button on the horizontal bar.
Because we’re now merging four cells across columns and rows, the effects of picking “Merge all”, “Merge vertically”, and “Merge horizontally are now different.
Here’s what happens when you “Merge all“.
Here’s what happens when you “Merge vertically“. Only the columns are merged.
Here’s what happens when you “Merge horizontally“. Only the rows are merged.
This effect also applies when dealing with multiple rows and columns of cells. It all depends on what you wish to accomplish with the merge.
At the End of the Day
You can merge cells on Google Sheets two ways—select the cells and go to the “Format” menu to access the “Merge cells” submenu or you can go to the horizontal toolbar and use the “Merge cells” icon and dropdown menu to go about it.
References:
- “Freeze or merge rows & columns“, Google.com Support, Retrieved June 26, 2022
- “How to Combine Cells in Google Sheets [Easy Guide]“, SpreadsheetPoint.com, March 24, 2022
- Dave Johnson, “How to merge cells in Google Sheets on desktop or mobile, to combine multiple cells into one larger cell“, December 5, 2019