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Excel - Combine multiple columns into one column

Tags:

merge

excel

vba

I have multiple lists that are in separate columns in excel. What I need to do is combine these columns of data into one big column. I do not care if there are duplicate entries, however I want it to skip row 1 of each column.

Also what about if ROW1 has headers from January to December, and the length of the columns are different and needs to be combine into one big column?

ROW1| 1   2   3    
ROW2| A   D   G    
ROW3| B   E   H    
ROW4| C   F   I

should combine into

A    
B    
C    
D    
E    
F    
G    
H    
I

The first row of each column needs to be skipped.

like image 578
Akib Avatar asked Jun 04 '10 20:06

Akib


2 Answers

You can combine the columns without using macros. Type the following function in the formula bar:

=IF(ROW()<=COUNTA(A:A),INDEX(A:A,ROW()),IF(ROW()<=COUNTA(A:B),INDEX(B:B,ROW()-COUNTA(A:A)),IF(ROW()>COUNTA(A:C),"",INDEX(C:C,ROW()-COUNTA(A:B)))))

The statement uses 3 IF functions, because it needs to combine 3 columns:

  • For column A, the function compares the row number of a cell with the total number of cells in A column that are not empty. If the result is true, the function returns the value of the cell from column A that is at row(). If the result is false, the function moves on to the next IF statement.
  • For column B, the function compares the row number of a cell with the total number of cells in A:B range that are not empty. If the result is true, the function returns the value of the first cell that is not empty in column B. If false, the function moves on to the next IF statement.
  • For column C, the function compares the row number of a cell with the total number of cells in A:C range that are not empty. If the result is true, the function returns a blank cell and doesn't do any more calculation. If false, the function returns the value of the first cell that is not empty in column C.
like image 174
CristinaP Avatar answered Oct 18 '22 21:10

CristinaP


Try this. Click anywhere in your range of data and then use this macro:

Sub CombineColumns()
Dim rng As Range
Dim iCol As Integer
Dim lastCell As Integer

Set rng = ActiveCell.CurrentRegion
lastCell = rng.Columns(1).Rows.Count + 1

For iCol = 2 To rng.Columns.Count
    Range(Cells(1, iCol), Cells(rng.Columns(iCol).Rows.Count, iCol)).Cut
    ActiveSheet.Paste Destination:=Cells(lastCell, 1)
    lastCell = lastCell + rng.Columns(iCol).Rows.Count
Next iCol
End Sub
like image 22
Alex P Avatar answered Oct 18 '22 20:10

Alex P