Merge cells in Google Sheets - Dashboard Guide

Dashboard Mode - Merge cells

Goal

Show how to combine data and headings by merging cells to create clear section titles in a Google Sheets dashboard.

Sample Data

Product	Region	Sales Q1	Sales Q2
Apples	East	100	120
Oranges	West	150	130
Bananas	East	90	110
Grapes	West	200	210

Dashboard Components

• Title Section: Merged cells A1:D1 with text "Sales Dashboard" to create a centered heading.
• Data Table: Shows product sales by region and quarter in cells A3:D7.
• Total Sales Q1: Cell E3 with formula =SUBTOTAL(9,C4:C7) to sum Q1 sales.
• Total Sales Q2: Cell E4 with formula =SUBTOTAL(9,D4:D7) to sum Q2 sales.
• Total Sales Label: Merged cells E2:F2 with text "Total Sales" as a label above totals.

Dashboard Layout

+-------------------------------+
|        Sales Dashboard         |  <- Merged A1:D1
+-------+--------+-------+-------+
|Product| Region |Sales Q1|Sales Q2|
+-------+--------+-------+-------+
|Apples | East   |  100  | 120   |
|Oranges| West   |  150  | 130   |
|Bananas| East   |   90  | 110   |
|Grapes | West   |  200  | 210   |
+-------+--------+-------+-------+
|               Total Sales      |  <- Merged E2:F2
| Total Q1 Sales:  540           |  <- E3: =SUBTOTAL(9,C4:C7)
| Total Q2 Sales:  570           |  <- E4: =SUBTOTAL(9,D4:D7)
+-------------------------------+

Interactivity

Currently, this dashboard is static. Merging cells helps organize the layout visually. In a more advanced dashboard, filters could update the totals and data table dynamically.

Self Check

If you add a filter to show only "East" region products, which components update?

• The data table (A3:D7) will show only East region rows.
• The total sales formulas (E3 and E4) will update to sum only East region sales.
• The merged title and total sales label remain unchanged.

Key Result

A simple sales dashboard showing merged cells for title and labels, with sales data and totals.