5 Easy Steps to Unmerge Cells in Microsoft Excel

PDF download Download Article
A quick guide to moving the values from a merged cell back into individual cells in Excel
PDF download Download Article

Do you want to unmerge cells in Microsoft Excel? When merging cells, data from adjacent cells combine into a single cell. When you unmerge cells, the data is retained in the top-left cell while the cells split. You can easily unmerge cells by selecting your merged cells and selecting "Unmerge Cells" in the "Merge & Center" drop-down menu. This wikiHow will show you how to change a merged cell back into two or more standard cells in Microsoft Excel using your Windows or Mac computer.

Things You Should Know

  • You can only unmerge a cell that has been previously merged.
  • Select all the cells you want to unmerge. Go to Home , then click the drop-down menu next to Merge & Center .
  • Click Unmerge Cells in the drop-down menu to unmerge the cells.

Steps

PDF download Download Article
  1. You can use an existing project or create a new spreadsheet .
  2. To select an entire spreadsheet, click the A1 cell, hold down the Shift key, and then click the bottom value in the last column. This will select all of your data. [1]
    • You can also hold Shift (Windows) or Command (Mac) and click individual cells to add them to the selection.
    • Merged cells take up two or more columns' worth of space. For example, merging a cell range in the A and B columns would leave you with a cell that spans the A and B columns.
      • You can only unmerge a cell that has been previously merged.
    Advertisement
  3. It's at the top of the Excel window. Doing so opens the Home toolbar.
    • If you're already on the Home tab, you can skip this step.
  4. Click the drop-down arrow to the right of the Merge & Center button in the "Alignment" section of the toolbar. This will prompt a drop-down menu to appear. [2]
  5. It's in the drop-down menu. Your cells will be unmerged, and the cells' value will be added to the left-most cell.
    • For example, if your merged cell had the word "Hello" in it, unmerging the cells would place the word "Hello" in the left-most unmerged cell.
    • If you want to merge cells again, select the cells you want to merge. Click Merge & Center in the Home tab. You can also click the arrow to select Merge Across or Merge Cells .
    6. Advertisement

Expert Q&A

Ask a Question
200 characters left
Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.
Submit
      Advertisement

      Video

      Tips

      • If you use Excel in a language which reads from right to left, the unmerged value will always go to the right-most cell.
        Thanks
        Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
      Submit a Tip
      All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published
      Name
      Please provide your name and last initial
      Submit
      Thanks for submitting a tip for review!
      Advertisement

      Warnings

      Advertisement

      You Might Also Like

      How to
      Format an Excel Spreadsheet
      How to
      Apply Conditional Formatting in Excel
      3 Simple Ways to Edit Data in MS Excel
      How to
      Make a Spreadsheet in Excel
      How to
      Use the Lookup Function in Excel
      How to
      Merge Cells in Microsoft Excel: A Quick Guide
      How to
      Unprotect an Excel Sheet
      How to
      Unhide All Rows and Columns in Microsoft Excel
      How to
      Use If‐Else in Microsoft Excel: Step-by-Step Tutorial
      How to
      Insert Pictures in Excel That Automatically Size to Fit Cells
      How to
      Create a Mortgage Calculator With Microsoft Excel
      How to
      Create a Graph in Excel
      How to
      Show Hidden Columns in Microsoft Excel & Unhide Column A
      How to
      Fix Ethernet Doesn't Have a Valid IP Configuration on Windows
      Advertisement

      References

      1. ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/select-data-for-a-chart-5fca57b7-8c52-4e09-979a-631085113862
      2. ↑ https://support.office.com/en-us/article/merge-and-unmerge-cells-5cbd15d5-9375-4540-907f-c673a93fcedf

      About This Article

      Article Summary X

      1. Click once a merged cell in your Excel document.
      2. Click the Home tab.
      3. Click the triangle to the right of the Merge & Center button.
      4. Click Unmerge Cells .

      Did this summary help you?
      In other languages
      Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 290,598 times.

      Is this article up to date?

      Advertisement