Excel can join text from several cells with CONCATENATE, CONCAT, TEXTJOIN, or the ampersand operator. The right choice depends on whether you need separators, blanks skipped, or a whole range combined.
Does this affect you?
Use this for Excel for Microsoft 365, Excel 2021, Excel 2019, and Excel for the web when joining names, addresses, codes, labels, dates, or longer lists. TEXTJOIN requires Excel 2019 or later or Microsoft 365.
Combine a few cells with CONCATENATE or CONCAT
This works well for a fixed number of pieces.
- Click the output cell.
- Type =CONCATENATE(A2,” “,B2) to join first name, a space, and last name.
- Adjust the separator inside quotes, such as “, ” or ” – “.
- Press Enter.
- Drag the fill handle down for other rows.
CONCAT is the newer version and can take a range, such as =CONCAT(A2:C2), but it does not add separators between each item.
Combine a whole list with TEXTJOIN
TEXTJOIN is best when blanks may appear.
- Click the output cell.
- Type =TEXTJOIN(“, “,TRUE,A2:A10).
- The first argument is the separator.
- TRUE tells Excel to ignore blank cells.
- Press Enter.
With CONCATENATE, each cell and separator must be typed manually. TEXTJOIN handles a range and can skip empty cells cleanly.
More control
Use ampersand for quick joins
=A2&” “&B2 gives the same basic result as CONCATENATE for simple formulas. Many users find it faster to type.
Format dates before joining
If a joined date becomes a number like 45832, wrap it with TEXT, such as =A2&” “&TEXT(B2,”mm/dd/yyyy”).
Fix common errors
#NAME usually means the function name is misspelled or your Excel version lacks TEXTJOIN. Missing spaces mean the separator was not placed inside quotation marks. If the formula displays as text, change the cell format to General and re-enter it.
Try Flash Fill for one-time patterns
Type the combined result manually in the first row, start the second row, and use Data > Flash Fill if Excel recognizes the pattern. Use formulas when the result needs to stay live.
Sources
- Microsoft Support – CONCATENATE function (2025)
- Microsoft Support – TEXTJOIN function (2025)
- Microsoft Support – CONCAT function (2024)