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How to Add Text in Excel Formula (Step-by-Step)

August 29, 2023 7.4K views

Formulas make life easy but adding text to these formulas even make life easier. You would be thinking how to add text to formula excel? Will it be easy or will I be able to do it on my own.

Yes, you can definitely do it and once you learn it, it becomes a piece of cake. Go through this step by step guide to add text to formula excel and you will be good to go.

How to Add Text in Excel Formula Using Ampersand '&'?

The ampersand operator allows you to add text to an Excel formula. It can be wielded at the beginning of or end of a formula, depending on where it feels most natural to you. The choice is yours. We will also look into how to add special characters in Excel formula.

Add Text Before Formulas

The following example will demonstrate adding text before a formula using the ampersand (&) operator. Simply follow the steps outlined below.

Steps:

1. Enter the following formula in cell F3

="The Total Pay of "&B3&C3&" is "&"$"&SUM(D3,E3)

This will add the value of cells B3 and C3 and the text of “The Total pay of” before the SUM function by the Ampersand (&) operator.

2. Press Enter. The table will look like this.

3. Press ENTER and drag the Fill Handle tool to copy the same formula to other cells.

Add Text Between Two Formulas

This section will explore using two formulas with text placement in the middle of two formulas. We will incorporate the TEXT and TODAY functions to enhance our data presentation and discuss how to add text in different places of a cell in Excel formula.

Steps:

1. Go to Cell  F3 and enter the following formula.

=TEXT(TODAY(),"mmmm dd,yyyy")&" Total Pay is "&"$"&SUM(D3,E3)

Here, we employ the TODAY function to retrieve the current date while the SUM function calculates the sum of the text values from cells D3 to E3.

By utilizing the ampersand operator, we concatenate this text together. The TEXT function converts the entire output into a text format.

2. Press Enter, The result will look like this.

3. Press Enter and Drag down using the Fill Handle tool.

Add a Line Break Between Two Formulas

We can incorporate line breaks between two additional formulas. Let's consider the same example to illustrate this process.

Steps:

1. Go to cell F3 and enter the formula.

=TEXT(TODAY(),"mmmm dd,yyyy")&CHAR(10)&" Total Pay is $"&SUM(D3,E3)

2. Press Enter

3. Drag down from the Fill handle tool per the previous example for the final result below.

How to Add Text in Excel Formula Using CONCAT Function?

Using the same example, let us see the power of the CONCAT function. Unlike the previous method, the CONCAT function allows us to combine text from multiple cells without including any delimiters. So, let's discover how to use the CONCAT function.

Steps

1. Go to Cell F3 and enter the following formula.

=CONCAT(" The Total salary of ",B3,C3,"is $",SUM(D3,E3))

2. Press Enter, and you will see this result.

3. Click on F3 and drag down with the Fill handle to populate the cells below.

How to Add Text to Formula Calculations with TIME Format

There are moments when we find ourselves needing to count specific times. Adding time values to formulas can communicate precise messages to readers. Let's explore how we can use time formats in this article about “Excel add text to formula” to convey our messages accurately.

Steps

1. Let us see how we can calculate the number of hours worked for each employee and display a meaningful message like” John’s Number of hours worked is 0900”

2. goto Cell F3 to start the formula. The first value to pick is the name of the employee in B3. Enter this value with &

3. Next, we can add a text like “number of hours worked” in the formula.

4. Now, we need to calculate the number of hours worked. it is available in cells D3 E3. We have the number, but not in time format.

5. we need to add the TEXT function to obtain the number of hours in time format. See below.

How to Add Text to Formula Calculations with Date Format

Also, we often encounter situations where we need to count dates, and this is where formulas with date formats are used. Following is an example where the last date in the heading needs to be continuously adjusted.

Steps

1. See the following example to automatically insert the last date in the heading.

2. Obtain the earliest date and format it as "dd-mmm-yyyy" using the TEXT function. Use the MIN function to determine the minimum date from the list. To insert the ampersand symbol (&) in the formula, enclose it within double quotation marks ("&").

="Invoice Flow Accounting Statement  from &TEXT(MIN(A:A),"dd-mmm-yyyy")

3. Next part is to get the latest date from the table and apply the MAX formula.

&TEXT(MAX(A:A),"dd-mmm-yyyy") 

See how the reading ad changed when a new date was added in column A.

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FAQs about How to Add Text in Excel Formula

  • Can I use Excel formulas to add text/characters to cell

Yes. There are several methods to add text or characters to an existing cell. The most popular functions are:

Concatenation operator- use an ampersand character (&), e.g., "text"&cell

CONCATENATE function. e.g.CONCATENATE("text", cell)

CONCAT Function. e.g.,CONCAT("text," cell)

These functions are explained in detail in the article above.

  • Are there any limitations on the length of text strings in Excel formulas?

Yes, there are limitations on the length of text strings in Excel formulas. In most versions of Excel, the maximum length of a text string that can be used in a formula is 255 characters. If a text string exceeds this limit, it may result in an error or truncation of the string.

Excel Add Text to Formula | Did you find the answer?

In this article, we looked into various aspects of Excel, searching for an answer to the question" Excel add text to formula." We explored different techniques to enhance our spreadsheet skills.

We learned about using the ampersand (&) operator, discovered the benefits of incorporating line breaks between formulas for improved readability, and discussed the usage of time formats to convey precise messages.

Excel is a powerful tool, and by mastering these techniques, we can unleash its full potential. However, we recommend downloading WPS Office as a user-friendly alternative to Excel.

With WPS Office, you'll find a suite of powerful productivity tools that are both intuitive and feature-rich. So, why not try it and unlock a world of possibilities in your daily tasks?

Remember, whether you choose to stick with Excel or explore alternatives like WPS Office, continuous learning and practice are key to mastering the art of spreadsheets. So, download WPS Office and embark on an exciting journey of productivity.


15 years of office industry experience, tech lover and copywriter. Follow me for product reviews, comparisons, and recommendations for new apps and software.