Meaning of the sign & in Excel?

Last Updated on 23/09/2023
Reading time: 2 minutes

The sign & is very useful in Excel.

  1. Just add the & symbol to link 2 items

    You can link cells, text, or text and cells

  2. Don't forget the spaces

    According to the situation, you must also manage the space and the writing of the formula is more complex

How to add Text with cell content?

Let's start with this example where you have a list of room numbers in column A. To clarify the content of your cells, you want to add the word Room: before each room number.

How to add text to a cell content

It's in this situation that the & sign will be very helpful.

  1. Start with the = sign to create your formula
  2. Write the text "Room: "
  3. Add the & sign
  4. Indicate the reference of the cell, like A2 in the example

Your formula is

="Room: "&A2

Link text and cell with in Excel

Important Remarks:

  • The text is written between double-quotes. In Excel, when you use a text in your formula, you must always write it between double-quotes.
  • We have written "Room: " (with a space at the end) and not "Room:". This is important to "separate" both items. Otherwise, we have this result.
Link text and cell with in Excel but without space

How to link 2 cells together?

Now, we want to link 2 cells together, like in this example with name and first name. But we also want to add a space between the name and the first name

  1. Write the sign =
  2. Select the cell A2
  3. Add the sign & to create a link
  4. Write a space and don't forget the double quotes because it's a text
  5. Once again, add a new sign &
  6. Finally, select the second cell, B2

=A2&" "&B2

If you simply write =A2&B2, there is no error but the text is not readable because there is no space.

Link between 2 cells without a space

You can also use an Excel function, like PROPER, to capitalize the first letter of the name.

Use the Proper function to capitalize the first letter of the name

2 Comments

  1. Mehmet
    19/06/2023 @ 11:34

    After so many years, I've decided to remember/improve my Excel and see that your site is very useful. Thanks

    Reply

    • Frédéric LE GUEN
      19/06/2023 @ 16:14

      Thank you sooooo much. Please, share my articles if you like them 🙂

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Meaning of the sign & in Excel?

Reading time: 2 minutes
Last Updated on 23/09/2023

The sign & is very useful in Excel.

  1. Just add the & symbol to link 2 items

    You can link cells, text, or text and cells

  2. Don't forget the spaces

    According to the situation, you must also manage the space and the writing of the formula is more complex

How to add Text with cell content?

Let's start with this example where you have a list of room numbers in column A. To clarify the content of your cells, you want to add the word Room: before each room number.

How to add text to a cell content

It's in this situation that the & sign will be very helpful.

  1. Start with the = sign to create your formula
  2. Write the text "Room: "
  3. Add the & sign
  4. Indicate the reference of the cell, like A2 in the example

Your formula is

="Room: "&A2

Link text and cell with in Excel

Important Remarks:

  • The text is written between double-quotes. In Excel, when you use a text in your formula, you must always write it between double-quotes.
  • We have written "Room: " (with a space at the end) and not "Room:". This is important to "separate" both items. Otherwise, we have this result.
Link text and cell with in Excel but without space

How to link 2 cells together?

Now, we want to link 2 cells together, like in this example with name and first name. But we also want to add a space between the name and the first name

  1. Write the sign =
  2. Select the cell A2
  3. Add the sign & to create a link
  4. Write a space and don't forget the double quotes because it's a text
  5. Once again, add a new sign &
  6. Finally, select the second cell, B2

=A2&" "&B2

If you simply write =A2&B2, there is no error but the text is not readable because there is no space.

Link between 2 cells without a space

You can also use an Excel function, like PROPER, to capitalize the first letter of the name.

Use the Proper function to capitalize the first letter of the name

2 Comments

  1. Mehmet
    19/06/2023 @ 11:34

    After so many years, I've decided to remember/improve my Excel and see that your site is very useful. Thanks

    Reply

    • Frédéric LE GUEN
      19/06/2023 @ 16:14

      Thank you sooooo much. Please, share my articles if you like them 🙂

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *