How to use CONCATENATE with Excel

This week, someone asked me how to use concatenate with Excel to allow them to join text together from different columns into one cell. The CONCATENATE function is perfect for this because it allows you to combine content from different cells into one. Whether you’re working with an older version of Excel that only supports CONCATENATE, or a newer version like Excel 365 where CONCAT has taken over, this guide covers both functions so you can join text the right way no matter which one you’re using.

Whether you’re working with an older version of Excel that only supports CONCATENATE, or a newer version like Excel 365 where CONCAT has taken over, this guide covers both functions so you can join text the right way, no matter which one you’re using.

The CONCATENATE function is what we call “dynamic” which means that if anything in the original cells changes, the CONCATENATE function updates automatically. So your combined text always stays current. And really, the word “concatenate” just means to join things together, which is exactly what this function does in Excel.

If you’re new to using functions, check out my post on Excel Formula Basics first as it’ll make learning how to use concatenate with Excel much easier.

Concatenate Syntax

All functions in Excel have a syntax. This refers to the way in which the function is formatted, in other words, where you need to place a bracket or a comma. Below is the Excel CONCATENATE syntax.

=CONCATENATE(text1,text2,…)

CONCATENATE vs CONCAT: What’s the Difference?

I want to outline the fact that the CONCATENATE function has now been superseded by the newer CONCAT function. I’ve outlined both of these functions in this post so be sure to check out the CONCAT function below.

Both CONCATENATE and CONCAT join text from multiple cells into one, but CONCAT is the newer, more flexible function. Here’s how they compare:

Feature	CONCATENATE	CONCAT
Excel versions	All versions (legacy feature)	Excel 2019, Excel 365 or later
Cell ranges	Not supported, you must list individual cells	Supported
Individual cell references	Supported	Supported
Recommended by Microsoft (2026)	No	Supported

As outlined above, the biggest advantage of using CONCAT is it’s ability to use cell ranges rather than having to include individual cell references. E.g. Let’s say you have more than a few cells that you need to join together. Using CONCATENATE you need to reference each cell to be included one by one. E.g.

=CONCATENATE(A1,B1,C1,D1,E1,F1)

However if I use CONCAT instead, I reference the cells as a cell range instead. E.g.

=CONCAT(A1:F1)

How to use Concatenate

The CONCATENATE function is going to allow us to join information from multiple cells into one single string of text. There are other ways to perform this in Excel however the biggest advantage to CONCATENATE is that it is dynamic. Remember, the term dynamic means it will refresh itself if your original information changes. If you don’t need an option that is dynamic, such as only needing to combine the content as a one-off, check out my post on Flash Fill as it’s an amazing function that everyone should be aware of.

To use the CONCATENATE function, follow these steps:

1. Open Microsoft Excel.
2. Open an existing workbook containing data you wish to join together or create a simple new blank workbook with data such as shown below. I am going to join together the house number, street name and suburb into one cell:

3. Place your cursor in the next available empty cell in a blank column or insert a new column if needed. I am placing my cursor in cell D1.

TIP: To insert a new column, place your cursor where you want the new column to be displayed, then from the Home tab click the Insert button and choose Insert Sheet Column.

4. Enter a heading for the new column and press Enter.
5. You should now be in the cell which will contain the first set of joined text.
6. Select the Formulas tab from the Ribbon and choose the Insert Function button, in the Search for a function box type CONCATENATE and click Go.
7. Select CONCATENATE from the list and click OK.
8. The Function Arguments dialog box will now appear:

9. In the Text1 field, we need to select the location where the first part of the text can be found, in this case, the house number will be the first part and can be found in cell A2, use your mouse to select cell A2.
10. So that Excel puts a space between the house number and the name of the street, you need to include a space character. If you selected the cell with the street name as text2 without first putting in a space character then Excel will display the two pieces of text with no spaces between.
11. Place your cursor in the Text2 field and type a space using the spacebar.
12. You will now see Text3 and Text4 will be displayed.
13. Place your cursor in Text3 and then select the location of the next part of text, the street name, or cell B2.
14. Repeat the previous step and place a space into the Text4 field.
15. In Text5 this will contain the suburb, so select cell C2.
16. The Function Arguments dialog box will display a preview of your data:

17. Click OK.
18. The cell will now display the data joined together.
19. Autofill the formula down the remainder of the column using the AutoFill tool – see my post Introduction to the AutoFill Tool.

Important Note: If you delete column A, B or C which contain the individual information, column D will display an error so you must leave them in the spreadsheet. For visual purposes if you wish to have these out of sight, simply highlight the two columns, right mouse click and select Hide.

20. Have fun using this function to combine text strings.

Test the Concatenate function

Let’s test out the dynamic updating of the Concatenate function.

1. Place your cursor in any cell within column A (containing the house numbers).
2. Change the value to something different.

3. The CONCATENATE function in column D automatically updates the data.

Using the CONCAT Function

In the latest versions of Excel which includes Excel 2019 and Excel 365, the CONCATENATE function has been replaced by the CONCAT function. The CONCATENATE function still remains available to use for compatibility purposes with older version of Excel however the new CONCAT function is now the go-to option.

CONCAT Syntax

All functions in Excel have a syntax. This refers to the way in which the function is formatted – in other words, where you need to place a bracket or a comma. Below is the Excel Countif syntax.

=CONCAT(text1,text2,…)

Using the CONCAT function

The CONCAT function is really very much the same process to its predecessor CONCATENATE. You can choose to select individual cells and add anything between each text string (such as a space or comma), or you can choose a cell range (group of cells) and CONCAT will join them all together as they are.

Here are some examples with the first showing how CONCAT can still include a space, hyphen or comma (or anything) in between each value and the second showing you can choose a cell range without adding anything in between each value:

=CONCAT(A2, ” “, B2, “-“, C2, ” “, D2)

=CONCAT(A2, B2, C2, D2)

1. Open the worksheet where you wish to join text strings.
2. Place your cursor in the cell which will contain the first set of joined text
3. Select the Formulas tab from the Ribbon and choose the Text library button, choose CONCAT from the list
4. The Function Arguments dialog box will now appear:

5. In the Text1 field, select the cell where the first part of the text can be found, in this case, the house number will be the first part and can be found in cell A2, use your mouse to select cell A2
6. So that Excel puts a space between the house number and the name of the street, you need to include a space character. If you selected the cell with the street name as text2 without first putting in a space character then Excel will display the two pieces of text with no spaces between.
7. Place your cursor in the Text2 field and type a space using the spacebar
8. You will now see Text3 and Text4 will be displayed
9. Place your cursor in Text3 and then select the location of the next part of the text, the street name, or cell B2
10. Repeat the previous step and place a space into the Text4 field
11. In Text5 this will contain the suburb, so select cell C2
12. The Function Arguments dialog box will display a preview of your data:

13. Click OK
14. The cell will now display the data joined together
15. Use AutoFill to copy the function down the remaining records in your worksheet

Other Excel Functions

If you want to venture into the world of other great functions in Excel you may like to see the following articles:

• Introduction to the AutoFill tool in Excel
• Create a basic Lookup function in Excel
• How to use COUNTIF in Excel
• How to use the COUNTIFS Function in Excel
• How to use XLOOKUP in Excel (with examples)
• How to use Flash Fill in Excel

I hope this has helped show you how to use CONCATENATE with Excel and also explore the newer CONCAT function as well. Feel free to comment below with any questions.