How to Combine Two Cells into One in Google Sheets

When you start working in Google Sheets, eventually you will reach a time where you need to combine data from two specific cells into one cell.

There are a couple of different formulas you can use to do this in google sheets. Concatenate is one of the simplest ones to learn.

In this tutorial, I will show you everything you need to know about using the concatenate formula to combine two cells or columns into one.

Table of Contents

What is Concatenate?

Concatenate is a function in google sheets that joins together data from one or more cells into one cell. It’s a very useful formula that all spreadsheet users should learn to master.

How to Concatenate

Here is how you combine two cells or columns into one with concatenate in google spreadsheets.

In the below example we will be combining the data in column A, and column B, into column C.

1. Select the cell where you want the new combined data to be, and press “=” on your keyboard. Then type: concatenate. As soon as you see concatenate show up you can press tab on your keyboard to allow you to start the formula

2. Select the cell with the first string of data you want combined into the new cell. You can either type out the specific cell reference (A2 in the example), or you can click on the cell with your cursor.

3. Add a comma using your keyboard (,). Then click on the second cell you want to be combined, or you can type out the cell (B2 in the example)

4. Close out the formula by pressing the closing parenthesis button on the keyboard “)”. Then press enter and the data will combine into one.

5. If you want to combine the entire columns of A and B together, you will simply select the formula, copy it, and paste it down into the remaining cells that you want combined.

6. This will combine the values of columns A and B into a new column: C. This completes the concatenate function.

You can use the concatenate formula to combine as many cells together as you want. To do this, instead of closing out the formula in step for, add a comma inbetween any other cells you want combined before adding the closing parenthesis.

How to Concatenate with a Space

Sometimes you may want to combine your cells together but add a character like a space or a comma in between. You can also do that with concatenate.

In this example, we will be combining a first and last name in google sheets and adding a space inbetween.

Here’s how it’s done:

Select the cell where you want to combine the first and last name. On the keyboard press = and type concatenate. You can press tab on your keyboard as soon as concatenate shows up as an option
Select the first cell, in this example it is the cell that has the first name (A2)
Press comma (,) then add quotation marks with a space inbetween
Press comma (,) then select the cell with the last name (B2)
This will combine the first and last name with a space in between, to apply the formula to the remaining rows, copy the formula and paste it into the remaining cells where you want the names combined.

You can add whatever character you want inbetween your concatenated cells. Whatever seperator is placed inside the quotation marks in step 3 is what gets added in the middle of your new data. You can use this to add spaces, commas, or any other value in between.

Closing Thoughts

This is a simple tutorial you should take the time to master.

As you continue using spreadsheets it will certainly come in handy.

You can merge together the data in multiple cells quickly and efficiently by learning this formula.

If you have any questions be sure to reach out to us. If you’re still confused about how to use this formula, watch the video at the top of the page for a walkthrough!