TEXTJOIN in Excel: join a whole column with commas

By Srini Vanamala / September 29, 2026 / Formulas & Functions
TEXTJOIN in Excel: join a whole column with commas

TEXTJOIN takes a range of cells and glues them into one cell with a separator you choose. Perfect for turning a column of names into “Ana, Raj, Lee”.

The formula

=TEXTJOIN(separator, skip_blanks, range)

Steps

  1. Names in A1:A3.
  2. Click B1.
  3. Type =TEXTJOIN(", ", TRUE, A1:A3), press Enter.

Result: Ana, Raj, Lee.

What each part does

  • ", " — the separator. Use "; ", " - ", or CHAR(10) for a new line (turn on Wrap Text to see it).
  • TRUE — skip empty cells. FALSE would give “Ana, , Lee” if A2 were blank.
  • A1:A3 — the range. Can be a whole column: A:A.

Join only the rows that match

Names in A, city in B. Join only the Pune names:

=TEXTJOIN(", ", TRUE, IF(B1:B10="Pune", A1:A10, ""))

In Excel 365 press Enter. In Excel 2019 press Ctrl + Shift + Enter.

Check it worked

Count the commas: there should be one fewer than the number of names.

Needs Excel 2019 or newer

#NAME? means your Excel is older. Use & or CONCATENATE instead.

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Srini Vanamala

20 years with spreadsheets and enterprise systems. Writes one short, plain-English Excel lesson a day. Got an Excel question? learnexceleasycom@gmail.com

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