Excel Functions - Tutorial - CONCATENATE to Join Cells Date & Date Format
Options for entering the function and its arguments include:
Typing the complete function: =CONCATENATE(A4," ",B4) into cell C4
Selecting the function and its arguments using the CONCATENATE function dialog box
Although it is possible to just type the complete function in by hand, many people find it easier to use the dialog box to enter a function's arguments.
The dialog box takes care of the function's syntax - making it easier to enter the function's arguments one at a time without having to enter brackets, commas or, in this example the quotation marks surrounding the blank space.
The steps below cover entering the function using the dialog box.
Click on cell C4 - the location where the results of the function will be displayed
Click on the Formulas tab
Choose Text Functions from the ribbon to open the function drop down list
Click on CONCATENATE in the list to bring up the function's dialog box.
Click on line Text 1 in the dialog box
Click on cell A4 in the worksheet to enter that cell reference into the dialog box
Click on line Text 2 in the dialog box
Press the space bar on the keyboard to add a space to line Text 2 (Excel will add double quotation marks around the space)
Click on line Text 3 in the dialog box
Click on cell B4 in the worksheet to enter that cell reference into the dialog box
Click OK to close the dialog box and return to the worksheet
The concatenated name Shannon Graham should appear in cell C4
When you click on cell C4 the complete function =CONCATENATE(A4," ",B4) appears in the formula bar above the worksheet
The CONCATENATE Function's Syntax and Arguments
A function's syntax refers to the layout of the function and includes the function's name, brackets, comma separators, and arguments.
The syntax for the CONCATENATE function is:
= CONCATENATE ( Text1, Text2, ... Text255 )
Text1 - (required) can be actual text such as words or numbers, blank spaces surrounded by quotation marks, or cell references to the location of data in a worksheet
Text2, Text3,... Text255 - (optional) up to 255 text entries can be added to the CONCATENATE function to a maximum of 8,192 characters - including spaces
-each entry must be separated by a comma
The word concatenate is just another way of saying "to combine" or "to join together". The CONCATENATE function allows you to combine text from different cells into one cell. In our example, we can use it to combine the text in column A and column B to create a combined name in a new column.
Before we start writing the function, we'll need to insert a new column in our spreadsheet for this data. In our example, we'll insert it to the right of column B.
We're ready to enter our function into cell C2. As usual, we'll start with the equals sign (=) followed by the function name and an open parenthesis:
=CONCATENATE(
Now we're ready to enter our arguments. The arguments tell the CONCATENATE function what cells to combine. In our example, we want to combine the text in cells A2 and B2, so we'll make each of those an argument:
=CONCATENATE(B2, A2)
OK, let's run this function!
That's it!
Thanks for watching this Video.
Vasudevan M