Excel Tip: Merge Cells, but for One Row at a Time

Problem

When using Excel, sometimes I have multiple rows that I want to Merge and center, but only within that row.

However, if I select them all and select Merge and Center, I see the following error:

This is because Excel things I’m trying to merge all of those cells as one blob, rather than two rows, each with their own centered/merged text.

Solution

In Excel 2013 ¹, you can select the drop-down next to Merge and Center and Choose Merge Across, which will perform this function per row.

And now, you see two rows of text, each merged & centered separately.

1. (and possibly earlier versions, I haven’t tested) ↩