Concatenate in Google Sheets
To combine text from cells, use the & operator, CONCATENATE, or TEXTJOIN when you want a separator between many values.
=A2&" "&B2
Joins A2 and B2 with a space between. The & operator is the quickest way.
How it works
The & operator glues text together; put any literal text, like a space or comma, in quotes between the cells. CONCATENATE(a, b, …) does the same for a fixed list. For many cells with the same separator, TEXTJOIN is cleaner and can skip blanks.
Variations
CONCATENATE function
=CONCATENATE(A2, " ", B2)
Same result as A2&" "&B2.
Join a range with a separator (TEXTJOIN)
=TEXTJOIN(", ", TRUE, A2:A10)
TRUE skips empty cells; ", " is the delimiter.
First name + last initial
=A2&" "&LEFT(B2,1)&"."
Combines text with LEFT.
Examples
| Scenario | Formula |
|---|---|
| Full name from first + last | =A2&" "&B2 |
| City, Country | =A2&", "&B2 |
| Comma list of tags | =TEXTJOIN(", ", TRUE, C2:F2) |
FAQ
& or CONCATENATE — which is better?
They do the same thing. & is shorter; CONCATENATE reads more clearly for long lists. TEXTJOIN wins when you need one separator between many cells.
How do I add a line break between joined values?
Use CHAR(10) as the joiner, e.g. =A2&CHAR(10)&B2, and enable text wrapping on the cell.