Quick Guide To Split And Merge Cells in Google Docs

Google Docs makes it easy to add a table in a document and offers a bunch of features to manage it according to your need. You can add/remove rows and columns, change cell size, manage table size, and a lot more. However, it’s not always that straightforward, especially if you are working with a table that already has data filled in.

Splitting and merging cells are one of those features that directly affect the formatting of the table so it’s important to know exactly how they work. To help you with that, I have created this guide to help you easily split a single cell into multiple columns and rows and also how to merge multiple cells.

Split Cells in Google Docs

I am assuming you already have a table created and data filled. Follow the below instructions to split the cell:

Right-click inside the cell that you want to split and select Split cell from the menu.

A pop-up will open where you can provide the number of rows and columns for the split cell. The maximum number of rows/columns you can select is 10. Make your choice and click on the Split button.

The cell will be split into the number of rows and columns that you select. The information that was inside the cell will be moved to the first newly created cell.

If the data filled is longer, the cell size will increase in height to accommodate the data. This means the first cell in all the columns will be bigger. You can increase/decrease the size of the cells by clicking and holding on their boundaries.

Merge Cells in Google Docs

You can merge any number of cells, even if cells are already split. Whatever the number of cells you will select, all of them will be merged into one big cell. Here’s how to do it:

Click and hold on the first or last cell and drag around to select all the cells you want to merge. Once selected, right-click anywhere on the selected cells and choose the Merge cells option.

This will immediately remove all the lines to create a single cell. Cell size will be equivalent to the size of all the cells selected. The data inside will be merged too and the data in each cell will be listed separately per line.

You will also see a new Unmerge cells option in the right-click menu that will let you undo the changes. However, if you’ll use that option, the data will still stay in the first cell. I’ll recommend you use the undo feature to go back as it doesn’t change the data formatting.

Final Words 👨‍💻

Splitting and merging cells can be very useful for organizing data. You can split related data into smaller cells to keep them separated while still being part of the same section. Merging is also very useful for putting related data in one place. I am sure the above instructions will greatly help in organizing data in tables in Google Docs.