Combine Text from Two or More Cells with a Simple Formula

If you want to combine text from two or more cells into a different cell (concatenate the values), you can do this with a simple formula.

  1. Click in the cell in which you want the result.
  2. Press = (the equal sign).
  3. Click the first cell that you want to refer to in the join and then press + (the plus sign).
  4. Click the second cell that you want to refer to (to join the values together) and press Enter.

You can do this from multiple cells to join values together in a text chain or series. To get a sense of the possible ways you can combine cell data, see the examples below.

Examples

In the following examples, assume that [Task Name]1 contains the text "First Task" and [Task Name]2 contains "Second Task."

= [Task Name]1 + " " + [Task Name]2

Result: First Task Second Task

When you join cell values, you can use delimiters to separate the values in the range:= [Task Name]1 + "-" + [Task Name]2

Result: First Task-Second Task

= [Task Name]1 + "," + [Task Name]2

Result: First Task,Second Task

If no delimiter value is included, the values from the range will be joined without spaces:

= [Task Name]1 + [Task Name]2

Result First TaskSecond Task

TIP: As an alternative, you can use the JOIN function to combine cell values into a text string. See the Help Center article JOIN Function for more information.