Merge and Center in Excel (and the better alternative)

Merge and center a title

1. Type the title in the first cell, e.g. A1.
2. Select A1 across to the last column of your table, e.g. A1:D1.
3. Home › Merge & Center.

Only the top-left value is kept — any text in B1:D1 is lost.

Undo it

Select the merged cell and click Merge & Center again.

The dropdown options

• Merge Across — merges each selected row separately.
• Merge Cells — merges without centring.
• Unmerge Cells — splits them back.

Better: Center Across Selection

Merged cells break sorting, filtering, copy-paste and selecting columns. This looks identical and breaks nothing:

1. Select A1:D1.
2. Ctrl+1 › Alignment.
3. Horizontal: Center Across Selection › OK.

Merge & Center is greyed out

• You’re still typing in a cell — press Enter first.
• The data is an Excel Table — tables can’t hold merged cells.
• The sheet is protected — unprotect it.

Shortcut: merge cells shortcut · Need to combine the text instead? merge rows