How to Unmerge Cells in Excel (Shortcut + Keep Data)

Let’s say you have this sheet where you mistakenly merged A2 and B2:

As you can see, B2 should say “Sales”.

But before you can do anything, you will have to unmerge the merged A2B2 cell first.

To do so, make sure the merged cell is selected. Also, check that you’re in the ‘Home’ tab.

Under the ‘Alignment’ group on the Ribbon, click the ‘Merge & Center’ icon. Merge & Center works like an on/off switch, so clicking it on a merged cell unmerges it. You can also click the small arrow next to it and choose Unmerge Cells.

After that, the cell will now break into A2 and B2. The text “Month” stays in A2, the upper-left cell, and B2 is empty.

From there, we can now make changes to B2 without affecting A2.

There’s a key combination that would let you unmerge a cell without moving your mouse.

Take note that ‘unmerge’ doesn’t have a Ctrl shortcut. This key combination uses the ribbon’s key tips: the letters Excel shows when you press Alt.

• Alt: shows the key tips on the ribbon
• H: opens the Home tab
• M: opens the Merge & Center menu
• U: picks Unmerge Cells

When putting together everything, all you have to do is press Alt, then H, then M, then U, one key after another. You don’t need to hold Alt down.

The same key tips work for merging: Alt, H, M, C is Merge & Center and Alt, H, M, M is Merge Cells.

Got a sheet full of merged cells? You don’t have to unmerge them one by one.

1. Select the whole sheet: press Ctrl + A (press it twice if your cursor is inside a data range), or click the Select All button (the small triangle in the top-left corner where the row numbers and column letters meet).
2. Go to Home > Merge & Center arrow > Unmerge Cells (or press Alt, H, M, U).

Every merged cell on the sheet is unmerged in one go.

Want to see where the merged cells are first?

1. Go to Home > Find & Select > Find.
2. Click Options > Format.
3. On the Alignment tab, check Merge cells and click OK.
4. Click Find All to see a list of all merged cells in the sheet.

This is handy because Excel can’t sort a column that contains merged cells.

When you unmerge cells, only the upper-left cell keeps the value. The rest are empty. If you need the value repeated in every cell (for example, to sort, filter or use the data in a PivotTable), do this right after unmerging, while the cells are still selected:

1. Go to Home > Find & Select > Go To Special.
2. Choose Blanks and click OK. Now only the empty cells are selected.
3. Type = and press the Up Arrow key once. The formula now points to the cell above. (If the cells were merged across columns, press the Left Arrow key instead.)
4. Press Ctrl + Enter to put the formula in all the selected blank cells at once.

Every empty cell now shows the value from the cell above it. To turn the formulas into fixed values, copy the range and paste it as values. Here’s how to copy values instead of formulas.

Tip: If you only merged cells to center a title across columns, use Center Across Selection instead. Select the cells, press Ctrl + 1, and on the Alignment tab choose Center Across Selection under Horizontal. It looks the same as Merge & Center, but every cell stays a normal cell. More on that in my guide to merging cells in Excel.

In a sense, it’s a simple two-step process: select cell and click the icon. That’s it!

How do I unmerge cells in Excel?

Select the merged cell, then go to Home > Merge & Center arrow > Unmerge Cells. You can also click the Merge & Center button itself to switch merging off.

What is the shortcut to unmerge cells in Excel?

Select the merged cell and press Alt, H, M, U one key after another. It’s the ribbon key tip for Home > Merge & Center > Unmerge Cells.

How do I unmerge all cells in Excel?

Select the whole sheet with Ctrl + A (or the Select All button), then click Home > Merge & Center > Unmerge Cells. See unmerge all cells at once.

How do I unmerge cells and keep the data in each cell?

Unmerging puts the value in the upper-left cell only. Fill the empty cells with Go To Special > Blanks, type = and press the Up Arrow key, then press Ctrl + Enter. See unmerge and keep the data.

How do I split a cell in Excel?

You can only split a cell that was merged before (by unmerging it). A normal cell can’t be split into two cells. To split the text in a cell across columns, use Data > Text to Columns. Here’s my guide on how to split a cell in Excel.

Does this work in Excel for Mac and Excel for the web?

Yes. In both, select the merged cell and choose Unmerge Cells from the Merge & Center menu on the Home tab.