Merge and center cells in Excel - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

📊 Formula Result

intermediate

What is the result of merging and centering cells A1 to C1 with text?

You have text in cell A1: "Sales Report". You select cells A1 to C1 and apply Merge and Center. What will be the visible output in the merged cell?

A The text "Sales Report" appears only in cell A1, and cells B1 and C1 remain empty.

B The text "Sales Report" is duplicated in cells A1, B1, and C1.

C The text "Sales Report" appears centered across the merged cells A1:C1.

D The text disappears and the merged cells appear empty.

💡 Hint

Think about what Merge and Center does to the text in the first cell.

When you merge and center cells, the content of the upper-left cell (A1) stays visible and is centered across the merged range. Other cells' contents are removed.

🎯 Scenario

intermediate

How to keep data from multiple cells after merging?

You have values in cells A1: "Jan", B1: "Feb", and C1: "Mar". You want to merge these cells and keep all three month names visible in the merged cell. Which approach works best?

A Concatenate the values into one cell first, then merge and center.

B Copy all values into one cell manually, then merge and center.

C Select A1:C1 and click Merge and Center directly.

D Merge and Center will automatically combine all text from the selected cells.

💡 Hint

Think about how Excel handles text in multiple cells when merging.

Merge and Center keeps only the upper-left cell's content. To keep all text, you must combine it first (e.g., with CONCATENATE or &), then merge.

❓ Function Choice

advanced

Which formula combines text from cells A1, B1, and C1 for merging?

You want to merge cells A1:C1 and display combined text from these cells in the merged cell. Which formula correctly combines the text with commas?

A All of the above

B =A1 & ", " & B1 & ", " & C1

C =TEXTJOIN(", ", TRUE, A1:C1)

D =CONCATENATE(A1, ", ", B1, ", ", C1)

💡 Hint

Consider different ways to join text in Excel.

All three formulas combine text with commas. TEXTJOIN is newer and handles ranges easily, CONCATENATE and & also work.

📊 Formula Result

advanced

What happens to cell references after merging cells?

You merge cells A1 to C1. Then you enter a formula in D1: =A1. What value does D1 show?

A Zero, because merged cells cannot be referenced.

B A #REF! error because A1 is merged.

C The value from the original A1 before merging.

D The value from the merged cell A1:C1.

💡 Hint

Think about how Excel treats merged cells as one cell.

After merging, the merged area is treated as one cell with the address of the upper-left cell (A1). Formulas referencing A1 get the merged cell's value.

❓ data_analysis

expert

Identify the issue with merged cells in sorting data

You have a table with merged header cells in row 1 (A1:C1 merged). When you try to sort the data below by column A, what problem occurs?

A The merged cells split automatically before sorting.

B Excel shows an error and refuses to sort because of merged cells.

C Only the merged header row moves, data stays in place.

D The sort works normally without any issues.

💡 Hint

Think about how merged cells affect sorting operations.

Excel cannot sort ranges that include merged cells because merged cells disrupt the row structure. It shows an error and stops sorting.