To merge and center cells in Excel, follow these steps:
- Select the cells you want to merge
Highlight two or more adjacent cells that you want to combine into one. Make sure the data you want to keep is in the upper-left cell because merging deletes data in other cells
- Go to the Home tab
On the Excel ribbon, click the Home tab to access formatting options
- Click "Merge & Center"
In the Alignment group, click the Merge & Center button. This merges the selected cells into one and centers the content within the merged cell
Additional tips:
- If the Merge & Center option is disabled, ensure you are not editing a cell and that the cells are not formatted as an Excel table, since merging cells inside tables is not allowed
- You can also use the keyboard shortcut Alt + H + M + C to quickly merge and center cells
- To unmerge cells, select the merged cell and click Merge & Center again or press Ctrl + Z immediately after merging to undo
Alternative to merging: Center Across Selection
If you want the appearance of merged and centered cells without actually merging (which can cause issues with data manipulation), you can use the Center Across Selection option:
- Select the cells.
- Right-click and choose Format Cells.
- Go to the Alignment tab.
- Under Horizontal , select Center Across Selection.
- Click OK
This centers the text across the selected cells without merging them, preserving individual cell functionality. This method works in most modern Excel versions including Excel 2024, 2021, 2019, and earlier
