Excel beginner TEXTJOIN delimiter combine text join cells

Excel TEXTJOIN: Combine Text with Delimiters

TEXTJOIN Function is a Excel function that textjoin combines all non-empty cells in a2:z2, separated by commas and a space. Formula Genius generates and validates this formula automatically from a plain-English prompt.

TEXTJOIN combines text from a range with any delimiter you choose. Replaces chained CONCATENATE or ampersand (&) formulas.

The Formula

Prompt

"Join all non-empty values in a row with commas"

Excel
=TEXTJOIN(", ", TRUE, A2:Z2)

TEXTJOIN combines all non-empty cells in A2:Z2, separated by commas and a space. The TRUE argument skips empty cells, so you don't get double commas.

Step-by-Step Breakdown

  1. TEXTJOIN(delimiter, ignore_empty, text1, [text2], ...)
  2. ", " is the delimiter placed between each value
  3. TRUE skips empty cells (FALSE would include them as empty strings)
  4. A2:Z2 is the range to combine — can be any range or multiple ranges
  5. Result: all values joined with commas, blanks excluded

Edge Cases & Warnings

  • Result is limited to 32,767 characters — longer results return #VALUE!
  • Requires Excel 2019, 365, or 2021+ — not available in Excel 2016
  • For older Excel, use CONCATENATE or & but you can't skip blanks automatically
  • TEXTJOIN can take multiple separate ranges: =TEXTJOIN(", ", TRUE, A2:A10, C2:C10)

Examples

Prompt

"Alice, , Bob, , Carol (range with blanks)"

Excel
Alice, Bob, Carol
Prompt

"=TEXTJOIN("-", TRUE, "2026", "02", "15")"

Excel
2026-02-15

Frequently Asked Questions

How is TEXTJOIN different from CONCAT?

TEXTJOIN adds a delimiter between values and can skip blanks. CONCAT just joins text end-to-end. TEXTJOIN is almost always what you want.

Can I join with line breaks?

Yes. Use CHAR(10) as the delimiter: =TEXTJOIN(CHAR(10), TRUE, A2:A10). Make sure the cell has Wrap Text enabled.

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