Centering a heading across columns

The Merged Cells check box on the Alignment tab of the Format Cells dialog box enables you to mesh together separate cells of a single range to create a mega cell. The purpose for doing this is so you can change the horizontal or vertical alignment of its data entry with regard to the new mega cell's borders. (The data can be either a text or numeric entry as long it was made in the first cell of the erstwhile separate cell range.)

Because your purpose in merging a cell range into a mega cell often is to be able to center a heading within it so that the heading spans several columns, the Formatting toolbar contains a Merge and Center button. By clicking this button, you combine two different controls on the Alignment tab of the Format Cells dialog box:

• The Center option in the Horizontal drop-down list box in the Text Alignment section
• The Merge Cells check box option in the Text Control section

The Merge and Center button is a toggle switch. The first time you click it, Excel merges the selected cells and centers the text within it. The second time you click it with the merged cell selected, the program restores the cells that were merged into one and returns the text entry to its original alignment.