Google Sheets easily gets the job done for most of us, be it making school projects or compiling office reports. It feels simpler to use than more traditional alternatives like Microsoft Excel, yet it offers a lot of neat tools for managing your massive sheets filled with rows and rows of numbers. One way to handle and better present large amounts of data in your sheets is by merging cells for creating headers or combining entries. The best part is that Google Sheets makes the cell merging feature available across platforms, whether you're editing on your smartphone or one of the top Chromebooks you use for work.

Here's everything you need to know about merging cells in Google Sheets.

How to merge cells in Google Sheets for the web

Google Sheets for the web has specific options for choosing how to merge cells. You can combine cells vertically, horizontally, or a mix of both. It sounds complicated, but it isn't and takes only a couple of steps.

  1. Drag the cursor across the cells you want to merge to select them. You can only choose adjacent cells for merging.
    A Google Sheets page with some rows and columns selected
  2. After highlighting the desired group of cells, go to Format in the top menu and select Merge cells.
    A Google Sheets page with Format option open and Merge cells highlighted
  3. Select how you want to merge the cells. Some or all options may be available depending on the kind of cell selection.
    A Google Sheets page with all Merge cells options displayed under Format

Only the data in the top or left cell is retained, depending on whether you merge cells vertically or horizontally. Merge only empty cells to avoid data loss or back up the data before merging.

This is what each one of them is used for:

  • Merge all: Merges all the cells in both directions to form a single giant cell.
    A Google Sheets page showing how Merge all works
    Merge all
  • Merge vertically: Merges cells in a single column into one cell.
    A Google Sheets page showing how Merge vertically works
    Merge vertically
  • Merge horizontally: Merges cells in a single row into one cell.
    A Google Sheets page showing how Merge horizontally works
    Merge horizontally

A pop-up warns about potential data loss if your selected cells contain text. Select OK to proceed. And that's all you need to do to merge cells in Google Sheets for the web.

You don't need to merge each column or row individually. Instead, highlight all the cells in a single selection and use the Merge vertically or Merge horizontally option to execute the operation in one go.

How to merge cells in the Google Sheets app for Android

The Google Sheets mobile app lets you merge cells on your phone, but its process differs slightly.

  1. Tap a cell to select it.
  2. Expand the selection area using the selection handles to highlight the cells you want to merge.
  3. On the bottom toolbar, select the Merge button to merge your selected cells into one.

The process on the mobile app is a bit too straightforward because it doesn't offer additional options as you get on the web.

Since the Merge button on the mobile app does only one operation (it merges all the highlighted cells into one), you must select each column and row individually if you have a bunch of them to merge.

How to unmerge cells in Google Sheets

Unmerging cells requires you to follow the same steps with only the final option changing. Here's how to unmerge cells.

Unmerge cells in Google Sheets on the web

  1. Drag the cursor to select the cells that were previously merged. This doesn't work with cells that haven't been merged before.
    A Google Sheets page with a merged cells selected
  2. Go to Format > Merge cells.
  3. Click Unmerge.
    A Google Sheets page with Format option open, showing the Unmerge option
  4. The original rows and columns return.
    A Google Sheets page showing unmerged cells

Unmerge cells using the Android app

Use the Merge button to unmerge cells. After selecting the cells to unmerge, the Merge button in the bottom toolbar is automatically highlighted.

Unmerging a cell keeps the text currently in it but doesn't bring back the data that was there before you merged the cells into one.

Do more with Google Sheets

Google Sheets is a phenomenal tool for crunching numbers while keeping your data safe in the cloud and accessible everywhere. Google's excellent collaboration tools even let you share your sheets with colleagues or classmates without any fuss. These are the reasons many of us use Google Sheets every day, but we aren't fully utilizing a lot of its hidden features. There are quite a few handy Google Sheets tips and tricks you can try when you work on a sheet. Plus, you can make the app more convenient to use with the help of these useful add-ons.