How to Merge and Unmerge Cells in Google Sheets

As you continue working with spreadsheets you may come across times when you want to merge cells to keep the file looking neat and organized.

You will also come across times where merged cells are preventing you from being able to sort and do other work properly, and you may want to unmerge your cells.

In this tutorial, we will show you how to merge and unmerge cells in Google Sheets.

How to Merge Cells

One common reason you may want to merge cells is when you have a header row with the same information for two or more columns like in the picture below. You can merge cells to make your spreadsheet more organized and easier to read.

Below I will show you three different ways to merge cells.

Merge with Formatting Menu

1. Select the cells that you want to merge by clicking and holding as you drag your cursor to highlight all the cells
2. In the top menu select Format
3. In the drop-down select Merge cells
4. Select Merge All

When you select merge cells you will have a few options depending on the cells you have highlighted: merge all, merge vertically, merge horizontally, unmerge. Select the one appropriate for what you are trying to merge (usually merge all will do this)

Merge with Merge Tool

1. Select the cells that you want to merge by clicking and holding as you drag your cursor to highlight all the cells
2. Navigate to the Merge Tool in the top menu
3. Select Merge cells

If you click on the arrow next to the tool you will have the same additional merge options as in the last method, but again usually merge all is will do the trick

Keyboard Shortcut to Merge Cells

1. Select the cells that you want to merge by clicking and holding as you drag your cursor to highlight all the cells
2. On your keyboard press Alt + O + M
3. On your keyboard press Enter

This method isn’t a true keyboard shortcut but it can speed up your merging speed when you use it to select merge all from the menu

How to Unmerge Cells

Merged cells can make sorting, filtering, or copying and pasting data almost impossible. You may want to get rid of merged cells so that you can work with your spreadsheet easier.

Here are a few methods for removing merged cells.

Unmerge with Formatting Menu

1. Click on the cell that you want to unmerge
2. In the top menu select Format
3. In the drop-down menu select
4. Select Unmerge

Unmerge with Merge Tool

1. Click on the cell that you want to unmerge
2. Navigate up the merge tool and select the small down arrow to the right of the tool
3. Select Unmerge

Closing Thoughts

That completes the tutotorial. If you have followed along this far you should now have a firm understanding of how to merge and unmerge in Google Spreadsheets.

We hope you have found this helpful!

More Google Sheets Tutorials:
How to Split Cells