Don't Merge and Center in Excel: Center Across Selection Instead

The essential tips for Excel experts: say goodbye to "merge cells" and embrace "cross-selected areas and center"! We have long been used to using Excel's "merge cells" function, but it hides many inconveniences. Now let's explore a more powerful alternative - "Center across select areas" to achieve the same effect while maintaining the integrity of the table structure.

Why should we avoid using "merged cells"?

Many people think that merging cells is the best way to display the same data across multiple cells or entire rows. But that's not the case!

Excel is highly dependent on the determinant grid structure of cells. Merging cells will destroy this structure, causing problems when data is modified.

First, if you add filter buttons to the top row of the data and then try to sort the data using these buttons, Excel will return an error message. The same happens when using the Sort button in the Sort and Filter group on the Data tab.

Similarly, you will also have problems if you try to paste the data from unmerged rows to the merged rows.

In short, Excel cannot handle table format changes caused by merged cells. There is a reason why the Merge Cells option gets grayed out when you format your data as a table - because it can seriously affect the table and its filtering capabilities.

Advantages of "Centering Cross-Choose Areas"

If you already have a lot of merged cells and are worried about structure issues, don't worry! The following steps will help you fix this issue while keeping the table layout unchanged.

First, select an affected cell and click "Merge Cells" to unmerge it. Then, select the cells you merged earlier and click the icon in the lower right corner of the Alignment group on the Start tab.

Open the "Horizontal" drop-down menu in the "Text Alignment" section of the dialog that opens, click "Center across selected areas", and then click "OK".

Look! The data display is the same as when using Merge Cells, but the cell structure and integrity are preserved. This means you can now use filters and copy and paste data between cells – whether using formatted tables or not – without getting frustrating error messages again!

Authentic, the "Center Cross-Select Area" tool is only available for rows and not for columns. But this is not a big problem, because "merge cells" and "cross-selected areas" are mainly designed for horizontal use rather than vertical use.

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Using "Center across select areas" is not the only formatting method that makes a spreadsheet clear and easy to read. For example, freezing rows and columns, avoiding excessive cell borders, maintaining consistency, and using beautiful charts and tables can all make the workbook more beautiful.

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