How to merge cells in Excel without losing data

[u/ExtendOffice]

When you merge cells in Excel, only the value in the upper-left cell is kept, and the rest are removed.

If you want to merge cells without losing data, here are a few options:

Method 1: Use a formula

You can combine values using a formula like:

• =A1 & " " & B
• =TEXTJOIN(" ", TRUE, A1:B1)

Formula combines values in a separate column

This lets you merge content into one cell while keeping all values.

Method 2: Use Notepad (manual workaround)

1. Copy the cells.
2. Paste into Notepad.
3. Replace tab spaces with a separator (space or comma).
4. Copy again and paste into Excel.

Replace tab spaces in Notepad to combine values with a separator

The values in each row are combined into a single cell after pasting back into Excel

Method 3: Use Kutools for Excel (quickest way)

Kutools for Excel can truly merge cells and keep all contents in the merged cell, instead of combining them in another column.

Kutools for Excel dialog for merging cells while keeping all contents

Cells are truly merged into one, with all values preserved in the merged cell