Instead, you can use a quick and easy formula to combine columns.

Comparing Two Columns In Excel How To Format The

Well also offer some tips on how to format the data so that it looks exactly how you want it.

In many cases, using the ampersand method is quicker and easier than the concatenate formula.

While the former still works, it is being depreciated and you should use the latter to ensure compatibility with current and future versions of Excel.

You dont need to manually type in each cell name that you want to combine.

Alternatively, left click and drag the bottom right corner of the filled cell down the column.

As such, it isnt always suitable to leave the cells combined without formatting them.

You can put whatever you want between the speech marks, like a comma, a dash, or any other symbol or text.

Note that you also need to include where you want the spaces to be---hence The character with a space at the end, rather than The character.

Thats because Excel converts the correctly formatted date of birth into a plain number.

For example,,0.00 would show currency with a thousands separator and two decimals, would turn a decimal into a fraction, H:MM AMPM would show the time, and so on.

It means that whenever the original cells (e.g.

Comparing Two Columns In Excel Update To Reflect

A2 and B2) are updated, the combined cell will automatically update to reflect those changes.

As such, you might want to remove the formula from the combined column and make it plain text.

Now the formula is gone and youre left with plain text cells that you can edit directly.

Merging cells only keeps the values from the upper-left cell and discards the rest.

In the Ribbon, on the Home tab, click the Merge Center button (or use the dropdown arrow next to it).

He has a BA (Hons) in Business and is now a full-time freelance writer who enjoys making tech simple for everyone.

Comparing Two Columns In Excel For Mac