Three ways to join text in Excel — each one handles a slightly different situation.
=A2 & " " & B2
-- Joins A2, a space, and B2
-- "Sarah" & " " & "Johnson" = "Sarah Johnson"
=A2 & ", " & B2 & " (" & C2 & ")"
-- "London, UK (Active)"Best for joining a small number of specific values where you control the separator between each pair.
=CONCAT(A2:A10)
-- Joins all values in A2:A10 with no separator
-- "NorthSouthEastWest" (no gaps between values)CONCAT joins a range but adds no separator. Useful when you want pure concatenation, but rarely what you want for readable output.
=TEXTJOIN(delimiter, ignore_empty, range)
=TEXTJOIN(", ", TRUE, A2:A10)
-- "North, South, East, West"
-- TRUE = skip blank cells, FALSE = include them as empty itemsTEXTJOIN is the best option for joining a range with a consistent separator. The ignore_empty argument (set to TRUE) is especially useful for ranges with gaps.
| Situation | Best option |
|---|---|
| Join 2-3 specific values with custom formatting | & operator |
| Join a range with no separator | CONCAT |
| Join a range with a consistent separator | TEXTJOIN |
| Join a range, skipping blanks | TEXTJOIN with TRUE |
ExcelPro has 880+ hands-on exercises across 9 tracks — type real formulas, get instant feedback.
Start practising free →