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Today, we’re going to learn about the CONCATENATE function in a spreadsheet. This function is super useful in our everyday tasks, especially in the business world. So, let’s dive right in!
The CONCATENATE function is like glue that helps you stick different pieces of text together. It’s often used in situations where you need to combine data from different cells or simply create a more readable format.
Imagine you work at a company and have a spreadsheet with three columns: ‘First Name,’ ‘Last Name,’ and ‘Email Address.’ You’d like to create a new column that shows the full name and email address together. The CONCATENATE function is perfect for this!
| First Name | Last Name | Email Address |
| John | Smith | john.smith@example.com |
| Sarah | Johnson | sarah.johnson@example.com |
| Mike | Williams | mike.williams@example.com |
| Emily | Brown | emily.brown@example.com |
Here’s how you can use the CONCATENATE function:
- Click on an empty cell where you want to display the combined text.
- Type “=” followed by CONCATENATE(.
- Now, click on the first cell you want to combine (in our example, the first name).
- Type a comma, and then add the text you want to appear between the two cells. For example, to add a space and the “@” symbol, type ” “, another comma, and then “@”. Make sure to include quotation marks.
- Type another comma, and then click on the second cell you want to combine (in our example, the last name).
- Finally, close the function with a closing parenthesis “)” and hit “Enter.”
Your formula should look like this: =CONCATENATE(A2, ” “, “@”, B2).
Voila! Now, you have a new cell that displays the full name with the “@” symbol in between. You can easily apply this formula to other cells by dragging the fill handle (the small square in the bottom-right corner of the cell) down the column.
Remember, the CONCATENATE function isn’t limited to just two cells. You can combine as many cells as you’d like by adding more commas and cell references within the formula.
For example, to add an email domain to our existing formula, you can do this: =CONCATENATE(A2, ” “, “@”, B2, “example.com”).
And that’s it! You now know how to combine text from different cells using the CONCATENATE function. It’s a fantastic tool that can save you time and help you organize your data more efficiently. So go ahead and give it a try in your own spreadsheets.