How to Combine 3 Columns in Excel

This tutorial takes about 3 minutes to complete.

Introduction

This tutorial shows how to combine three columns into a single column using Excel's CONCAT function — a quick way to join a person's first name, last name, and a custom message, or any other set of text fields that need to be merged together. It takes about three minutes and works on Excel 2016 and later, including Excel for the Web.

If you only need to combine two columns, see our simpler How to Combine 2 Columns in Excel tutorial first.

Step 1: Add and fill your third column

Before combining three columns, make sure you have data in all three. In this example, we'll use columns A and B for names and column C for a meeting message.

Click on cell C1 and type a heading like Message to label the column. Then type your message in C2 — for example: we will be having a meeting at 2 p.m. today.

With C2 selected, look at the bottom-right corner of the cell for the fill handle (a small black plus sign). Double-click it, and Excel will copy your message down to every row that has data in columns A and B.

Step 2: Label your combined column

Click on cell D1 and type a heading like Completed Message to label the column where the combined result will appear. This keeps your spreadsheet organized and easy to read.

Step 3: Enter the CONCAT formula with three columns

Click on cell D2 — this is where the combined result for the first row will appear. Type this formula:

=CONCAT(A2, " ", B2, " ", C2)

Here's what each part does:

• A2 — the first value (e.g., first name)
• " " — a space separator, so the result reads naturally
• B2 — the second value (e.g., last name)
• " " — another space separator
• C2 — the third value (e.g., the meeting message)

Each value is separated by " " (a space in quotation marks), so the final result reads like a proper sentence rather than a squished-together string.

Press Enter. Cell D2 will now display the combined text — for example, Alan Leach, we will be having a meeting at 2 p.m. today.

Step 4: Fill the formula down to all rows

Your formula only works for row 2 right now. To apply it to every row in your list, click on cell D2 and look at the bottom-right corner of the selected cell — you'll see the small black fill handle again.

Double-click the fill handle, and Excel will automatically copy the formula down to match the last row with data. All your records are now combined into a single, properly formatted column.

That's it — three columns are now combined into one, with spaces between each value.