Join an Entire Range of Cells

Excel 2019+TEXTJOINCONCAT

The old & operator joins cells one at a time. To combine a whole range in one go — a column of names into a sentence, a row of codes into one string — use CONCAT (just glue) or TEXTJOIN (glue with a separator, skipping blanks).

Quick formula: to join A2:A6 with a comma and skip blanks:

=TEXTJOIN(", ", TRUE, A2:A6)

TEXTJOIN takes a whole range, puts the delimiter between items, and (with TRUE) ignores empty cells — no cell-by-cell &.

Functions used (tap for the full reference guide):

TEXTJOIN CONCAT

The example

A column joined into one delimited string.

	A	C
1	Item	Joined
2	Apple	Apple, Banana, Cherry
3	Banana
4	Cherry

The formula

The whole column as one string:

=TEXTJOIN(", ", TRUE, A2:A4) // → "Apple, Banana, Cherry"

How it works

One function reads the entire range:

TEXTJOIN(delimiter, ignore_blanks, range) takes the whole range at once — no need to reference each cell.
The delimiter (", ") is placed between items, not after the last.
TRUE skips empty cells so you don’t get ", ," gaps.
CONCAT(A2:A4) does the same with no delimiter and keeps blanks — use it when you just want everything glued together.

Conditional join: wrap a FILTER inside TEXTJOIN to combine only the matching items — =TEXTJOIN(", ", TRUE, FILTER(A2:A100, B2:B100="West")) lists just the West names.

Try it: interactive demo

Live demo

Edit the items and delimiter; see the joined string.

Items (commas)

Join with

Result:

Variations

CONCAT (no delimiter)

Glue a range with nothing between:

=CONCAT(A2:A4)

Join with line breaks

Stack items (Wrap Text on):

=TEXTJOIN(CHAR(10), TRUE, A2:A100)

Join only matching rows

Combine with FILTER:

=TEXTJOIN(", ", TRUE, FILTER(A2:A100, B2:B100="West"))

Pitfalls & errors

TEXTJOIN/CONCAT need Excel 2019+. Older versions only have CONCATENATE (no range support) and & — you must reference cells individually there.

32,767-character limit. Joining a huge range can overflow the cell. Join a smaller set.

Numbers lose formatting. $1,200 joins as “1200.” Wrap values in TEXT first if formatting matters.

Practice workbook

📊

Download the free Join an Entire Range of Cells practice workbook

A column joined with live TEXTJOIN, the CONCAT, line-break, and conditional-join variants, plus 4 challenges with answers. No sign-up required.

Frequently asked questions

How do I join a whole range of cells in Excel?

Use =TEXTJOIN(", ", TRUE, A2:A100) to combine a range with a delimiter and skip blanks, or =CONCAT(A2:A100) to glue everything with no separator. Requires Excel 2019+.

What's the difference between CONCAT and TEXTJOIN?

CONCAT joins a range with no delimiter and keeps blanks. TEXTJOIN inserts a delimiter between items and can ignore empty cells, which is better for readable lists.

How do I join only cells that meet a condition?

Nest FILTER inside TEXTJOIN: =TEXTJOIN(", ", TRUE, FILTER(range, criteria)) combines only the matching items.

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Function references: TEXTJOIN · CONCAT