Concatenate With a Space, Comma or Dash in Excel
By ExcelReady TeamUpdated 7 min read
The short answer
To concatenate with a space, put a space in double quotes between the cells: =A2&" "&B2 joins a first and last name. CONCATENATE(A2," ",B2) and CONCAT(A2," ",B2) do the same. For several cells, =TEXTJOIN(" ",TRUE,A2:C2) adds the space for you and skips empty cells, so you never get double spaces.
Key takeaways
- A space is just text: put it in double quotes, " ", and join it like any other value.
- =A2&" "&B2, CONCATENATE(A2," ",B2) and CONCAT(A2," ",B2) all give the same result.
- TEXTJOIN puts the same separator between every value and can skip empty cells.
- Use ", " for a comma and a space, " - " for a dash with spaces, and CHAR(10) for a line break.
- TEXTJOIN and CONCAT need Excel 2019 or later; & and CONCATENATE work in every version.
On this page+
- How to concatenate two cells with a space
- Concatenate with a comma, dash or other separator
- Concatenate three or more cells with TEXTJOIN
- How to avoid double spaces when a cell is empty
- Concatenate a whole column into one cell
- Concatenate numbers and dates with a space
- Common mistakes when concatenating with a space
- Practise it
To concatenate with a space in Excel, you add the space yourself as a piece of text: " ", a space between two double quotes. Excel never adds separators on its own, so =A2&B2 gives "AnaCosta" while =A2&" "&B2 gives "Ana Costa". This guide shows how to add a space, comma or dash with &, CONCATENATE, CONCAT and TEXTJOIN, and how to avoid double spaces when a cell is empty.
All the examples use this name list:
| A | B | C | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | First | Middle | Last |
| 2 | Ana | Maria | Costa |
| 3 | Ben | Okafor | |
| 4 | Chloe | Rose | Martin |
| 5 | Dev | Sharma |
How to concatenate two cells with a space#
Put " " between the two cells and join everything with &:
=A2&" "&C2The result is Ana Costa. Read it as "first name, then a space, then last name". The & sign joins values in order, and the space inside the quotes is a value like any other.
The same result with functions:
| Formula | Result | Works in |
|---|---|---|
=A2&" "&C2 | Ana Costa | Every version |
=CONCATENATE(A2," ",C2) | Ana Costa | Every version |
=CONCAT(A2," ",C2) | Ana Costa | Excel 2019 and later, Microsoft 365 |
In every case, the space is its own argument or piece, in quotes. Fill the formula down the column and each row joins its own names, because the cell references move with it while the space stays the same. CONCAT is the newer name for CONCATENATE and can also take whole ranges. For the full differences, see CONCATENATE vs CONCAT vs TEXTJOIN and the & sign vs CONCATENATE.
Concatenate with a comma, dash or other separator#
Any separator works the same way: put it in quotes, with the spaces you want around it.
| You want | Formula | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Last, First | =C2&", "&A2 | Costa, Ana |
| A dash with spaces | =A2&" - "&C2 | Ana - Costa |
| A dash, no spaces | =A2&"-"&C2 | Ana-Costa |
| A slash | =A2&"/"&C2 | Ana/Costa |
| A full stop and space | =A2&". "&C2 | Ana. Costa |
The most common mistake is forgetting the space after a comma: =C2&","&A2 gives "Costa,Ana". Excel adds exactly what's inside the quotes, nothing more.
For a line break between values instead of a space, use CHAR(10) and turn on Wrap Text. The guide to line breaks in formulas explains how.
Concatenate three or more cells with TEXTJOIN#
When you join several cells with the same separator, typing &" "& between each one gets tiring. TEXTJOIN adds the separator for you:
=TEXTJOIN(" ",TRUE,A2:C2)The result is Ana Maria Costa. TEXTJOIN has three parts:
| Argument | What it means | Here |
|---|---|---|
| delimiter | The separator to put between values | " " |
| ignore_empty | TRUE skips empty cells; FALSE includes them | TRUE |
| text1, ... | The cells or ranges to join | A2:C2 |
TEXTJOIN needs Excel 2019, Excel 2021, Excel 2024 or Microsoft 365. The TEXTJOIN function guide has a quick reference.
How to avoid double spaces when a cell is empty#
Ben has no middle name. With &, the empty cell still gets a space on each side:
=A3&" "&B3&" "&C3This gives "Ben Okafor", with two spaces in the middle. It's hard to see, but it breaks lookups and comparisons later.
TEXTJOIN with TRUE fixes this, because it skips empty cells and their separators:
=TEXTJOIN(" ",TRUE,A3:C3)The result is Ben Okafor, with one space. That is why TEXTJOIN is the best choice whenever some cells might be blank. The guide to TEXTJOIN ignoring blanks covers more cases, such as addresses with an optional second line.
In older Excel without TEXTJOIN, wrap the joined text in TRIM, which turns double spaces into single ones:
=TRIM(A3&" "&B3&" "&C3)This also gives Ben Okafor. TRIM only fixes spaces, though. With commas, an empty cell still leaves ", ," in the result, so TEXTJOIN is the cleaner fix.
Concatenate a whole column into one cell#
TEXTJOIN can also join down a column, which is handy for building a list of names for an email or a summary line:
=TEXTJOIN(", ",TRUE,A2:A5)The result is Ana, Ben, Chloe, Dev, with a comma and a space between each name and none at the end. Doing the same with & would need a separate piece for every cell, and an extra comma to remove at the end. Add a condition with FILTER in Microsoft 365, such as =TEXTJOIN(", ",TRUE,FILTER(A2:A5,B2:B5<>"")), to list only the people with a middle name: Ana, Chloe.
Concatenate numbers and dates with a space#
When you join a number or a date, Excel uses its raw value, not the formatted one. A date shows as a serial number, like 45366, and money loses its currency sign. Wrap the value in TEXT to control how it looks:
=A2&" joined on "&TEXT(D2,"d mmm yyyy")If D2 holds 15 March 2024, the result is Ana joined on 15 Mar 2024. Note the spaces at both ends of " joined on ": they keep the words apart. The guide to combining text in Excel has more number and date examples.
Common mistakes when concatenating with a space#
- No space at all.
=A2&B2gives AnaCosta. Add" "between the cells. - The space outside the quotes.
=A2& &B2is a syntax error. The space must be inside double quotes. - Quotes around the cell.
="A2"&" "&"B2"gives the letters A2 B2. Cell references never go in quotes. - Double spaces from blank cells. Use TEXTJOIN with TRUE, or TRIM.
- A comma with no space. Write
", "with the space inside the quotes.
Once you are comfortable joining text, you can use the same idea for simple in-cell charts, as shown in in-cell bars with REPT.
Practise it#
Joining names and labels is one of the first text tasks in most Excel job tests. Practise joining text in a live spreadsheet: you type formulas with &, CONCAT and TEXTJOIN, and each one is checked instantly, double spaces included. Or try the TEXTJOIN exercise on this page.
Try it yourself
This is a live spreadsheet. Type the formula in the green cell and press Enter.
Ben has no middle name, so B3 is empty. In D3, use TEXTJOIN with a space as the separator and TRUE to skip blanks, joining A3:C3.
| A | B | C | D | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Full name | ||||
| 2 | Costa | ||||
| 3 | Ben | Okafor | |||
| 4 | Martin | ||||
| 5 | Dev | Sharma | |||
| 6 | |||||
| 7 | |||||
| 8 |
Tip: TEXTJOIN takes the separator first (" "), then TRUE to ignore empty cells, then the range.
Practise this in a lesson
Frequently asked questions
How do I concatenate two cells with a space in Excel?
Use =A2&" "&B2. The space in double quotes goes between the two cells. CONCATENATE(A2," ",B2) gives the same result.
Why are my concatenated values stuck together?
Excel only adds what you tell it to. If you write =A2&B2 there is no space. Add " " between the cells, like =A2&" "&B2.
How do I concatenate with a comma and a space?
Put both inside the quotes: =A2&", "&B2. Or use TEXTJOIN for a range: =TEXTJOIN(", ",TRUE,A2:D2).
How do I avoid double spaces when a cell is blank?
Use TEXTJOIN with TRUE as the second argument, like =TEXTJOIN(" ",TRUE,A2:C2). It skips empty cells, so no extra separators appear. In older Excel, wrap the joined text in TRIM.