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Intermediate 10 min read Updated 21/09/2026

How to Use TEXTJOIN Function in Excel

Learn how to combine text from multiple cells using Excel's TEXTJOIN function, a powerful tool for concatenating ranges of cells with custom delimiters while handling empty cells intelligently.

In this tutorial:

Basic TEXTJOIN syntax and usage
Combining text with different delimiters
Handling empty cells and arrays
Advanced usage and examples
Alternatives for older Excel versions

You'll need:

Excel 2019 or Microsoft 365
Text data to combine
Basic Excel knowledge

How to Use TEXTJOIN in Excel

Understanding TEXTJOIN Function

Basic Syntax:


                =TEXTJOIN(delimiter, ignore_empty, text1, [text2], ...)

• delimiter: The character(s) to insert between text values

• ignore_empty: TRUE to skip empty cells, FALSE to include them

• text1, text2, etc.: Text items or ranges to join

Basic Examples

Example 1: Joining Names

Sample Data:

A	B	C
John	M.	Smith

Formula:


                            =TEXTJOIN(" ", TRUE, A2:C2)

Result: John M. Smith

Example 2: Creating CSV Data

Sample Data:

A	B	C
Apple	Orange	Banana

Formula:


                            =TEXTJOIN(",", TRUE, A2:C2)

Result: Apple,Orange,Banana

Advanced Usage

Combining Multiple Ranges


                    =TEXTJOIN(", ", TRUE, A1:A5, C1:C5, E1:E5)

Creating Custom Lists


                    =TEXTJOIN(CHAR(10), TRUE, B1:B10)

Put ="• "&A1 in B1 and fill through B10 first, then turn on Wrap Text in the result cell. This avoids relying on array evaluation in older Excel versions.

Real-World Applications

Email List Creation


                    =TEXTJOIN(";", TRUE, A2:A100)

Joins addresses you already have permission to contact; check blanks and invalid addresses before use.

URL Parameters


                    ="https://example.com/?" & TEXTJOIN("&", TRUE, A2:A10)

Joins pre-encoded key=value pairs. Encode parameter names and values first; TEXTJOIN itself does not URL-encode them.

Common Mistakes and Solutions

Common Issues:

Character Limit Error
Excel has a 32,767 character limit for text cells
Wrong Data Types
TEXTJOIN coerces numbers to text. Use TEXT(value,"format") first when leading zeros, dates or a specific numeric format matter.

Alternative Methods for Older Excel Versions

Using CONCATENATE:


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

Using & Operator:


                        =A1 & " " & B1 & " " & C1