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CONCATENATE in Excel: Join Text With &, CONCAT and TEXTJOIN

Concatenate means joining text from several cells into one. Excel gives you four ways. Here is when to use each.

The four ways to join text

MethodExampleResult when A2 is Ann and B2 is Lee
& operator=A2&" "&B2Ann Lee
CONCATENATE (old)=CONCATENATE(A2," ",B2)Ann Lee
CONCAT (newer)=CONCAT(A2," ",B2)Ann Lee
TEXTJOIN=TEXTJOIN(" ",TRUE,A2:B2)Ann Lee

The & operator is the shortest and works in every version. CONCAT replaces CONCATENATE and accepts ranges. TEXTJOIN adds a separator and can skip blank cells.

Join with a separator and skip blanks

With Ann in A2, Lee in B2 and C2 empty, =TEXTJOIN(", ",TRUE,A2:C2) returns Ann, Lee. The TRUE means “ignore empty cells”, so you do not get a stray comma.

Excel sheet joining Ann and Lee with &, CONCATENATE, CONCAT and TEXTJOIN; all return Ann Lee, and TEXTJOIN with a comma returns Ann, Lee
The example from this guide in Excel: with Ann in A2 and Lee in B2, =A2&" "&B2 returns Ann Lee and =TEXTJOIN(", ",TRUE,A2:C2) returns Ann, Lee.

Join text with numbers and dates

Numbers lose their format when joined. Wrap them in TEXT:

FormulaResult (A2 = Ann, B2 = 1234.5)
=A2&" paid "&TEXT(B2,"$#,##0.00")Ann paid $1,234.50
="Due "&TEXT(DATE(2027,3,15),"mmm d, yyyy")Due Mar 15, 2027

Common uses

  • Full name from first and last name.
  • Address lines from street, city and ZIP.
  • Email addresses from a name and domain: =LOWER(A2&"."&B2&"@example.com")
  • Product codes such as SKU-001 using a prefix and TEXT(number,”000″).

Reverse it: split text

To split a full name into columns, use Data > Text to Columns, or TEXTSPLIT in Microsoft 365. Need to pull emails out of messy text? Try the email extractor.

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    Frequently asked questions

    Is CONCATENATE still supported?

    Yes, for compatibility, but Microsoft recommends CONCAT. The & operator works everywhere.

    How do I add a space between cells?

    Add ” ” as its own argument: =A2&” “&B2.

    How do I join a whole column into one cell?

    Use =TEXTJOIN(“, “,TRUE,A2:A100).

    Why does my date turn into a number?

    Dates are stored as serial numbers. Use TEXT(A2,”mm/dd/yyyy”) inside the join.

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