Merge/Unmerge Cells¶

Location: ribbon EGTools tab → Merge/Unmerge Cells group

A group of features for working with merged cells. It consists of two split buttons — Merge (default action = Merge Contents Only) and Unmerge (default action = Split to Rows Only).

Merge menu, 9 items (ribbon order): Merge Same Values · Merge Keeping Values · Merge Same Values Keeping · Merge Contents Only/with Style · Merge Rows Only/with Style · Merge Columns Only/with Style
Unmerge menu, 5 items: Unmerge and Fill · Split to Rows Only/with Style · Split to Columns Only/with Style

Merge Same Values¶

Turns vertical runs of equal values in the selection into real merged cells. Useful to tidy up a sorted list where the same category repeats down a column.

How it runs¶

Select the range to merge (a sorted list is recommended) and press the button.
In each column, runs of the same value spanning two or more cells vertically are merged. Runs of empty cells are not merged.
With multiple columns the merge is hierarchical — runs in a right column are broken at the group boundaries of the column(s) to its left. For example, with departments in column A and teams in column B, team merges also break wherever the department changes.

Notes¶

Values are compared by their displayed value (a formula's calculated result).
Since only runs of equal values are merged, no value is lost even though it runs without a confirmation prompt (Excel keeps only the top-left value on merge, but every value in the run is the same).
A multi-area selection (Ctrl+click) is processed area by area.

Merge Keeping Values¶

Merges the selected area(s) in appearance only. Every cell keeps its own value, so functions like SUM/VLOOKUP, filtering and sorting keep working, while the screen shows only the top-left value like a merged cell.

Select the range(s) to look merged and press the menu item (multi-area selections are processed area by area).
Internally the current sheet is copied into a temporary workbook, the real merge is made in the copy, and only its formatting is pasted back onto the same area of the original. Values and formulas are untouched; the temporary workbook is closed without saving.
Because the merge is appearance-only, values other than the top-left one are merely hidden from view, not deleted. Formulas referencing them still read them.

Merge Same Values Keeping¶

Finds runs using the same rules as Merge Same Values (vertical runs of two or more equal cells, hierarchical across columns), but merges them in appearance only like Merge Keeping Values. Every cell keeps its value, so filters and aggregation still work on the values after the merge.

Existing merged cells inside the selection are first unmerged and filled (in the copy) before the runs are computed. Values in the original never change.

Merge Contents Only / with Style¶

Merges the whole selection into one merged cell while joining the contents.

Select the range and press the menu item. With two or more columns you are asked for the column separator (default ,; cancelling exits).
Cells within a row are joined with the separator; rows are joined with a line break. Empty cells are skipped. Formula cells contribute their calculated text.
The area is merged and the joined text is written in. The result cell gets the Text number format (@).
Only: the cell style is reset to Normal and Wrap Text is turned on.
with Style: eleven font attributes of each character of the source (font, size, color, bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, sub/superscript, …) are remembered and re-applied character by character to the joined text.

Merge Rows Only / with Style¶

Processes each row of the selection with the content merge above, making one merged cell per row. With two or more columns the separator is asked once and reused for every row. Progress is shown in the status bar.

Merge Columns Only / with Style¶

Makes each column of the selection into one merged cell. The vertical values are joined with line breaks, so no separator prompt appears.

Unmerge and Fill¶

Unmerges the merged cells inside the selection and fills the cells back with the value each merge held. Useful to make filtering, sorting and formula references work on plain values after unmerging.

How it runs¶

Select the range to process and press the button. If the selection is not a cell range, the command exits silently.
Each merged cell in the selection is unmerged and the value it held is written back into the unmerged cells. Merged cells that were empty stay empty.
If a merge spanned multiple columns, the value is filled into the leftmost column only (a multi-row merge fills every row of that first column).

Caution¶

Formulas become values. If a merged cell contained a formula, its calculated result is filled in and the formula is lost. Back up first if you need to keep the formulas.

Split to Rows Only / with Style¶

Splits the text of one merged cell at line breaks and distributes the pieces downward, one per row. The reverse of the content merge.

Select the merged cell (or a single cell) and press the menu item.
The text is split at line breaks into the unmerged rows. If there are more pieces than the merge had rows, the missing rows are inserted.
Each target cell gets the Text number format (@) and its row height is auto-fitted. with Style preserves the source character formatting per piece.
If there is no line break and only one piece results, a notice is shown and the command exits.

Split to Columns Only / with Style¶

Splits the text of one merged cell at a separator and distributes the pieces to the right, one per column.

Select the merged cell and press the menu item; the separator is asked (default ,; cancelling or an empty value exits).
If there are more pieces than the merge had columns, columns are inserted; each target cell gets the Text number format (@) and its column width is auto-fitted. with Style preserves the source character formatting per piece.

Common notes¶

When it refuses to run¶

Situation	Applies to	Notice
Selection is not a cell range	all	"Work on a cell range"
Selection overlaps a table (ListObject)	Merge Same Values · Merge Same Values Keeping · content merge · row/column merge	"Table ranges cannot be processed" — merged cells are not supported inside tables
Only one row selected	Merge Same Values · Merge Same Values Keeping	"A single row cannot be processed"
Multi-area (Ctrl+click) selection	content merge	"Only one area can be processed at a time"
More than 100 rows	content merge · column merge	"Ranges over 100 rows cannot be processed"
Already-merged cells included	content merge (whole selection is already one merge) · row/column merge	"The range contains already-merged cells. Unmerge first"
Not a single merged cell	split to rows/columns	"Select a single merged cell to run this"
Nothing to split	split to rows	"The cell has no line breaks (Alt+Enter) to split by"
Nothing to split	split to columns	"The cell has no delimiter to split by"

Caution¶

"with Style" reads and re-applies formatting character by character, so long texts take a while. Progress is shown in the status bar. If character formatting is not needed, "Only" is much faster.
Result cells of content merge/split carry the Text number format, so they are not auto-recognised as numbers/dates. Cells that held formulas end up as their calculated text.