Excel 2010 For Dummies
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You can merge and center data horizontally or vertically across multiple cells in Excel 2010. You also can unmerge or split a merged cell into its original, individual cells. A common use of merge and center in Excel 2010 is to horizontally center a worksheet title over a table.

You can only split a cell that has previously been merged.

Merging and centering cells

Follow these steps to merge and center a range of cells:

  1. Select the range of cells you want to merge and center.

    You can use Merge & Center only on a contiguous, rectangle-shaped range of cells.

    A worksheet title before merging and centering.
    A worksheet title before merging and centering.
  2. On the Home tab, in the Alignment group, click the Merge & Center button.

    The cells are merged into a single cell, and the text (if any) is centered within the merged cell.

    A worksheet title after centering it across columns A through E.
    A worksheet title after centering it across columns A through E.
  3. (Optional) Change the alignment in the merged cell, if desired.

    For example, click the Align Text Right button in the Alignment group if you want the text in the merged cell to be right-aligned instead of centered.

If you want to merge cells without centering the text contained in the cell, click the drop-down arrow beside the Merge & Center button in the Alignment group and choose either Merge Across or Merge Cells.

Splitting a merged cell

If you need to split a cell that you've merged with the Merge & Center button, follow these steps:

  1. Select the merged cell.

    The Merge & Center button appears selected in the Alignment group.

  2. Click the Merge & Center button in the Alignment group.

    The merged cell reverts to a cell range again, and any text contained in the merged cell appears in the upper-left cell of the range.

About This Article

This article is from the book:

About the book author:

Greg Harvey, PhD, is president of Mind Over Media, Inc. He is the author of all editions of Excel For Dummies, Excel All-in-One For Dummies, Excel Workbook For Dummies, and Windows For Dummies Quick Reference. He's also an experienced educator.

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