How to merge cells in Excel without losing data

To merge cells in Excel without losing the data contained in them, use the ampersand operator is the & symbol denoting the English word "and". Place the cursor in the cell in which the combined data in the formula bar an equal sign and the opening parenthesis.

Select the first cell with the left mouse button and enclose between ampersands the space character in quotation marks - & "" & scroll to the next cell and re-enter &" "&. Continue as long as the mark in this way all the cellsthat you want to merge. To finish entering the formula, put a mark close parenthesis and press Enter. The formula will look like this: =(A1&" "&B1&" "&C1).

If you need to split combined data punctuation marks, place them after the first ampersand and quotation mark after entering a punctuation mark, don't forget to add a space. An example formula for the combined data using punctuation: =(A1&"; "&B1&"; "&C1).

You can also use the function "Concatenate". To do this, set the cursor in the cell, click in the formula bar fx icon. Opens a new dialog box "function Wizard". From the list, select the CONCATENATE function, or browse using the search fields. In the window "function Arguments", put the cursor in the Text1 box and select left click the first cell of the merged range. Move the cursor to field "Text2" and select the document next cell. Click on the OK button.

When using this method do not highlight the entire range of merged cells, this will lead to the fact that data will be lost. Formula should look like =CONCATENATE(A1:B1). Separate locations the sign ";" - semicolon, then all the values will be retained. Formula example: =CONCATENATE(A1; B1; C1).