Merge but Don't Center

As any regular user of MS Excel can tell you, the Merge & Center command is truly a handy feature. It allows you to select multiple cells then by using the command the cells are merged into one large cell and the cell contents are center justified. It makes for easy table titles centered above all the columns of data and an invaluable tool for forcing unusual spacing in worksheet layouts.

However there are times you want cells merged but the contents to be left justified. Usually, to accomplish this you first do the Merge & Center, then set the left justification.

With Excel 2007 we have an even more efficient way to merge without centering.

Highlight the cells to be merged.

Next on the Home tab of the Ribbon you'll need to locate the Merge & Center button - but DO NOT click it!

Instead, click the down arrow on the right side of the Merge & Center button.

From the list that opens choose Merge Across. You can see the other options there too, Merge Cells or Unmerge Cells.

And that's it.

Your cells are merged, same as always, but yet not the same since the justification was left alone.