This article describes the formula syntax and usage of the CONCATENATE function (function: A prewritten formula that takes a value or values, performs an operation, and returns a value or values. Use functions to simplify and shorten formulas on a worksheet, especially those that perform lengthy or complex calculations.) in Microsoft Excel.
Description
The CONCATENATE function joins up to 255 text strings into one text string. The joined items can be text, numbers, cell references, or a combination of those items. For example, if your worksheet contains a person's first name in cell A1 and the person's last name in cell B1, you can combine the two values in another cell by using the following formula:
=CONCATENATE(A1," ",B1)
The second argument in this example (" ") is a space character. You must specify any spaces or punctuation that you want to appear in the results as an argument that is enclosed in quotation marks.
Syntax
CONCATENATE(text1, [text2], ...)
The CONCATENATE function syntax has the following arguments (argument: A value that provides information to an action, an event, a method, a property, a function, or a procedure.):
- Text1 Required. The first text item to be concatenated.
- Text2, ... Optional. Additional text items, up to a maximum of 255 items. The items must be separated by commas.
Note You can also use the ampersand (&) calculation operator instead of the CONCATENATE function to join text items. For example,=A1 & B1 returns the same value as=CONCATENATE(A1, B1)
Example
Use the embedded workbook shown here to work with examples of this function. You can inspect and change existing formulas, enter your own formulas, and read further information about how the function works.
The formulas in this example use the CONCATENATE function to help create phrases and sentences from data in cells.
To work in-depth with this workbook, you can download it to your computer and open it in Excel. For more information, see the article Download an embedded workbook from SkyDrive and open it on your computer.
