How to Add Text to the Start or End of all Cells in Excel

When working with data in Excel, you might need to add text to the start or end of cells. This is a common task if you’re aiming to consistently format names, dates, or any other information.

You can achieve this by concatenating text using the ampersand (&) symbol or employing functions like CONCATENATE or CONCAT. Excel also provides several easy-to-use tools for prepending a symbol to a list of numbers or appending a domain to a list of usernames.

These methods allow for precision and flexibility in manipulating your data. 

Let’s go into more detail.

Add Text to Cells Using Formulas

Excel formulas dynamically add text to the start or end of cells in your spreadsheet. Whether you’re adding a prefix or suffix to cell values, formulas allow you to concatenate substrings and full strings to create a comprehensive dataset.

Utilizing the CONCATENATE Function

The CONCATENATE function is a straightforward method to merge text into your cells.

Begin by typing =CONCATENATE(your_text, cell_reference) into a cell adjacent to the one you wish to modify.

For example, if you want to add the prefix “ID-” to cell A1, use:

=CONCATENATE("ID-", A1)

This will combine “ID-” with the value in cell A1.

CONCATENATE Example

To add a suffix instead, switch the order in the function to:

=CONCATENATE(A1, "-ID")

Check out this post for more information on using the CONCATENATE function (and common issues).

Leveraging the Ampersand (&) Operator

The ampersand symbol (&) is an even more straightforward Excel concatenation tool.

You can easily append or prepend text to a cell by using it as an operator in a formula such as:

=your_text & cell_reference or =cell_reference & your_text

For prefixing, you might input =”Total: ” & A2, or for suffixing, =A2 & ” kg”. The versatility of the ampersand operator makes it a popular choice for quick text concatenations.

Ampersand kg example

Employing the TEXTJOIN Function

The TEXTJOIN function is a more flexible and advanced tool that allows you to add text across multiple cells and include a delimiter if desired.

A basic usage would be:

=TEXTJOIN("", TRUE, your_text, cell_reference)

The first argument is the delimiter, the second specifies whether to ignore empty cells, the next is the text to add, and the last is the cell reference.

For instance, =TEXTJOIN(“-“, TRUE, “SKU”, A1) would combine “SKU” with a dash and the value in A1, resulting in something like “SKU-A0001”.

Textjoin example

This function excels (pun intended!) when working with lists or ranges of cells and can easily add a consistent prefix or suffix.

Automating Text Addition with Excel Features

Excel provides several features to automate the process of adding text to cells, which can save time when performing repetitive tasks.

Using Flash Fill for Text Patterns

Flash Fill is a powerful tool for recognizing and applying patterns in your data without using formulas. 

To use Flash Fill, simply type the pattern you want to replicate in the first cell, then move to the next cell and start typing. Excel will anticipate the pattern and complete it for you.

If the pattern is not immediately recognized, you can prompt Excel to complete the pattern by selecting the Flash Fill option from the Data Tools section in the Data tab.

Flash Fill location on toolbar

To apply Flash Fill to multiple cells:

  1. Type the text you want to add to the first cell.
  2. Press Enter and move to the next cell.
  3. Start typing the pattern for the next cell.
  4. Press Ctrl + E to activate Flash Fill and fill down the rest of the selection.

It works best with consistent patterns and can save considerable time, especially with large datasets. For a more detailed tutorial, check out How To Use Flash Fill.

Creating Macros with VBA for Repetitive Tasks

Creating a macro using VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) is ideal for repetitive tasks requiring a more customized solution.

Macros are pieces of VBA code that automate tasks in Excel. To create one, you’ll need to open the VBA editor by pressing Alt + F11, insert a new module, and write the VBA code that specifies the task, such as adding text to a range of cells.

A simple macro to add text to the beginning of each cell in a selection might look like this:

Sub AddText()

    Dim cell As Range

    For Each cell In Selection

        cell.Value = "Text" & cell.Value

    Next cell

End Sub

After writing the code, close the editor, and you can run your macro from the Developer tab by clicking on Macros, selecting the macro you just created, and hitting Run. Your Excel spreadsheet will then reflect the changes made by the macro across the specified dataset.

Advanced Text and Data Formatting Techniques

In this section, you’ll learn how to apply advanced formatting to add text to cells and manipulate data, resulting in a cleaner and more efficient Excel spreadsheet.

Custom Formatting and Adding Characters

Excel allows you to customize formatting to include text or symbols in your data.

For example, by setting up a custom format, you can add characters like hyphens or commas to a range of cells without altering their actual values:

  1. Select the cells you want to format.
  2. Right-click and choose ‘Format Cells‘, or press Ctrl+1.
  3. In the Category list, select ‘Custom.’
  4. In the ‘Type’ box, you can enter a format that includes text. For instance, “ID-“@ would add “ID-” before any text in a cell.
Custom format not changing the value

This custom formatting is handy when dealing with datasets that require a specific format, such as adding a country code to phone numbers. The text is displayed in the cell, but Excel still recognizes the cell’s original contents for calculations.

Manipulating Text Strings within Cells

To split data within cells, you can use a variety of functions that allow you to manipulate or extract parts of the strings based on your requirements:

  • To split data based on a specified position, LEFT, MID, and RIGHT functions allow you to extract the exact portion of text you need. For instance, LEFT(A1, 5) extracts the first five characters from the start of the data in cell A1.
  • Excel’s REPLACE and SUBSTITUTE functions can help you manipulate text data, especially when text strings require a more intricate approach, such as adding text at a particular position within a string or extracting it. By mastering these functions, you can transform your data without permanently changing the values in your dataset.

Remember, all these methods allow you to format and manipulate text without directly altering the original data, which means you can continue to perform data analysis or calculations on your unaltered data.

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