How to Find Merged Cells in Google Sheets (and then get rid of it)

Does your job sometimes require you to find merged cells in Google Sheets and get rid of them, but you don’t know how to go about it? Well, you’re in luck today as we have put together some exciting tips to help you easily find merged cells in Google Sheets and get rid of them.

In today’s Google Sheets tutorial, we will show you different ways to find merged cells in Google Sheets. Whether this is your first time attempting to find merged cells in Google Sheets or something you have done in the past, albeit with some difficulties, today’s guide will make the entire process smooth and hassle-free.

But before we get into the nitty-gritty of this Google Sheets tutorial, let’s start with the basics- merging and unmerging cells in Google Sheets.

How to merge and unmerge cells in Google Sheets

Merging and unmerging cells in Google Sheets has to be among some of the easiest things to do. Plus, you don’t have to be tech-savvy to merge and unmerge cells in Google Sheets.

Just to show you how easy it is to merge and unmerge cells in Google Sheets, we will be using the following sample data to give you some insight into how to merge and unmerge cells in Google Sheets.

For this tutorial, we want to merge cell B1:G5. And here is how to go about it:

Step 1: Select the range of cells you want to merge

The first thing we need to do here is select the range of cells we would like to merge. Since we want to merge cells B1:G5, we would go ahead and highlight those.

Step 2: Format > Merge Cells > Merge Cell vertically

With the range of cells we would like to merge now highlighted. We can now head over to the Format menu, and select the option for Merge cells. After choosing this option, you’ll be presented with a list of three options. Go ahead and select the option for Merge vertically.

If you executed the steps exactly how we showed you above, your spreadsheet should look something like this:

The steps we showed you above are for merging cells vertically in Google Sheets. Now we want to show you how to merge cells horizontally, which is also pretty straightforward. Merging cells horizontally is great when your data is housed in a specific column.

For this example, we will arrange our sample data in Column B on our spreadsheet. Here is what ours looks like.

Step 1: Select the range of cells to merge

As you did in the previous steps, you’ll need to select the range of cells you want to merge.

Step 2: Format > Merge cells > Merge horizontally

After selecting the range of cells you want to merge. Navigate to the Format menu and select the Merge cells option. After clicking on that, choose the option for “Merge horizontally.”

With these steps perfectly executed, you should notice all the selected range of cells nicely merged horizontally. Here is what ours looks like:

Unmerging cells in Google Sheets

Unmerging cells in Google Sheets isn’t rocket science. Oh yes, and it takes only a couple of clicks to unmerge cells in Google Sheets. Don’t take our word for it? Well, check it out for yourself.

Step 1: Select merged cells

To unmerge cells in Google Sheets, you need to first select the merged cells.

Step 2: Format > Merged Cell > Unmerge

After selecting the merged cells, head over to the Format menu and select the Merged cells option. From the options that pop up, select Unmerge.

That wasn’t too difficult, was it?

Find merged cells by checking the cell border in Google Sheets

Now that we have covered the basics of merging cells in Google Sheets, it’s time to show you how to find merged cells in Google Sheets. And because we always like to keep things simple, we will show you the easiest method of finding merged cells in Google Sheets. Let’s jump right in, shall we?

Step 1: Select a range of cells

To find merged cells in Google Sheets, you need to select the range of cells you think are merged.

Step 2: Apply borders

After selecting the range of cells, you need to apply borders, which is super easy by the way. Simply navigate to the toolbar menu and click on the icon for “Borders.” Here, you want to select the option for “All borders.”

Here is an illustration that clearly demonstrates how to execute this step:

From the illustration above, you can clearly see how Google has added borders to our selection. Now you can clearly see the merged cells in our spreadsheet.

Note: While there are other ways to find merged cells in Google Sheets, checking the cell border is one of the easiest ways to find merged cells in Google Sheets.

Final thoughts

Finding merged cells in Google Sheets can seem like an uphill task, especially if you’re dealing with a large data set. But by applying some of the tips we highlighted in today’s Google Sheets tutorial, you should be able to find merged cells in Google Sheets without sweating it.

In today’s guide, we didn’t only show you how to find merged cells in Google Sheets, we also showed you how you can merge and unmerge cells in Google Sheets. So in case you have a project where you need to merge or unmerge cells in Google Sheets, we are sure you’ll find the tips outlined in today’s guide helpful.

As always, we love to make your job easy. So today’s guide featured comprehensive screenshots and video guides. In case you find any of the steps highlighted in today’s guide confusing, feel free to use the screenshots and video resources featured in today’s Google Sheets tutorial.

For more exciting Google Sheets tutorials, you are welcome to check our blog as we have tons of insightful Google Sheets tutorials that will help resolve the various issues you have when working with Google Sheets.