How to Combine Text in Excel (&, CONCAT, TEXTJOIN)

To combine text in Excel, use the & sign for a few pieces, CONCAT for a list of pieces, and TEXTJOIN when every piece needs the same separator. All three build things like full names, addresses and labels from separate columns. This guide is for anyone tidying a contact list or answering a text question in an Excel test, and it shows each method on the same data.

Which way to combine text: &, CONCAT or TEXTJOIN?#

All three join text; they differ in how much typing they save and which Excel versions have them:

For a deeper comparison, read CONCATENATE vs CONCAT vs TEXTJOIN.

The examples use this contact list:

How to combine text with the & sign#

The & sign joins two pieces of text into one. Excel adds nothing between them, so =A2&B2 gives NoraDelgado. Type the space yourself, as text in double quotes:

=A2&" "&B2

The result is Nora Delgado. There are three pieces here: A2, a space " ", and B2, with an & between each. Fill down (Windows: Ctrl+D; Mac: ⌘D) for the other names.

Use double quotes ("), not single quotes ('). You can add any text the same way:

How to use CONCAT and CONCATENATE#

CONCAT joins a list of pieces separated by commas: =CONCAT(text1, text2, ...). The commas outside quotes separate the pieces; a comma inside quotes is part of the text. To build "Portland, OR":

=CONCAT(D2,", ",E2)

CONCAT can also take a range: =CONCAT(A2:B2) gives NoraDelgado. CONCAT needs Excel 2019, Excel 2021, Excel 2024 or Microsoft 365.

CONCATENATE is the older name and works in every version, but it only accepts single cells and text, not ranges. =CONCATENATE(D2,", ",E2) gives the same result. Microsoft keeps it for compatibility, so files that use it still work.

How to combine text with a separator using TEXTJOIN#

TEXTJOIN adds the same separator between every piece, so you type it once. The syntax:

=TEXTJOIN(delimiter, ignore_empty, text1, [text2], ...)

The delimiter is the separator, in quotes. ignore_empty is TRUE to skip empty cells or FALSE to keep them. text1 can be a whole range. For a full address:

=TEXTJOIN(", ",TRUE,C2:E2)

The result is 418 Maple Ave, Portland, OR. TEXTJOIN can also join a whole column into one cell: =TEXTJOIN(", ",TRUE,A2:A6) gives Nora, Felix, Amara, Jonas, Lena. Like CONCAT, it needs Excel 2019 or newer.

Why ignore_empty matters#

Real data has gaps. Suppose a product has tags in B3:E3, but only B3 (fitness) and E3 (eco) are filled in:

With TRUE, the empty cells are skipped and you get a clean list. Doing the same with & would need an IF for every piece, which is why TEXTJOIN is worth knowing.

How to combine text with numbers and dates#

When you join a number or date, Excel uses its stored value, not the format you see. Say a payments sheet has a date in B2 and an amount in C2. If C2 shows $1,250.50, ="Total: "&C2 gives Total: 1250.5. A date is worse: Feb 3, 2025 becomes 45691, because dates are stored as numbers.

Wrap the value in TEXT to choose how it looks:

="Paid "&TEXT(C2,"$#,##0.00")&" on "&TEXT(B2,"mmm d, yyyy")

This gives Paid $1,250.50 on Feb 3, 2025. The guide to the TEXT function lists the format codes you'll need.

How to join only the rows that meet a condition#

In Microsoft 365, TEXTJOIN can join a filtered list if you put IF inside it. To list the full names of everyone in one state, such as Texas:

=TEXTJOIN(", ",TRUE,IF(E2:E6="TX",A2:A6&" "&B2:B6,""))

A2:A6&" "&B2:B6 builds a full name for every row at once. IF keeps the name where the state is TX and returns empty text for the rest, and TRUE tells TEXTJOIN to skip the empty ones. Here the result is Lena Park. Change "TX" to "MA" and you get Felix Grant. With more matching rows, you'd get a comma-separated list.

Keep the result if you delete the source columns#

A combined column still depends on the columns it reads. If you delete First and Last, the full names turn into #REF! errors. Before you delete anything, copy the combined column and paste it back as values (Windows: Ctrl+Alt+V, then Values; Mac: ⌃⌘V, then Values).

Common mistakes when combining text#

Most problems are missing spaces or the wrong symbol:

1. No space between words. =A2&B2 gives NoraDelgado. Add " " between the pieces.
2. Spaces missing inside quotes. =A2&"lives in"&D2 gives Noralives inPortland. Write " lives in " with a space on each side.
3. Using + instead of &. In Excel, + adds numbers, so =A2+" "+B2 returns #VALUE!.
4. Single quotes. ' ' isn't text in a formula. Use " ".
5. Extra spaces in the source. If a name has trailing spaces, the result will too. Clean it first with TRIM; see how to clean messy data.

The result of any of these formulas is text. If you need the pieces back later, split them again with TEXTBEFORE and TEXTAFTER. The TEXTJOIN function guide is a quick syntax reference.

Practise it#

Practise joining text with &, CONCAT and TEXTJOIN in a live spreadsheet. You'll build full names, "City, State" labels and addresses, join product tags with gaps, and combine everything into a listing title.