You have a folder of Excel files (monthly exports, reports from different teams, a workbook split across several people) and you need them in one place. This guide covers the two sensible ways to merge them and when to use each.
The short version: add your files and choose a mode. Keep each file as its own sheet, or stack files that share columns into one table. The Merge Excel tool does it on your device, so nothing is uploaded.
Two kinds of merge
“Merge” means two different things depending on your files, and picking the right one matters.
One sheet per file keeps each workbook intact as its own tab in a combined workbook. Use this when the files hold different things, like a sales report, an inventory list and a contact sheet, that you want together in one file but kept separate. You end up with one .xlsx and a tab for each source.
Stack matching columns appends the rows of several sheets into a single continuous table. Use this when the files share the same structure: twelve monthly exports with identical columns, or regional sheets you want as one dataset. The result is one long table you can sort, filter and pivot as a whole.
| Your files | Use |
|---|---|
| Different content, want them in one file | One sheet per file |
| Same columns, want one combined dataset | Stack matching columns |
How stacking handles columns
The useful part of stacking is that it matches columns by their header name, not their position. So if one file orders its columns Date, Region, Sales and another uses Region, Date, Sales, the rows still line up correctly under the right headers.
When the files do not have identical columns, stacking keeps the full set. A column present in only some files is included, and rows from files that lacked it get a blank in that cell. Nothing is silently dropped. You get every column that appeared anywhere, which is what you want when consolidating data that drifted over time.
How to merge your files
Step 1: Add the files
Drop two or more .xlsx or .xls files into the merge tool. They are listed in the order you add them, and you can remove any you added by mistake.
Step 2: Choose the mode
Pick “one sheet per file” to keep them separate, or “stack matching columns” to combine same-shaped sheets into one table. The preview shows the result.
Step 3: Download the combined workbook
Download a single .xlsx containing the merge. Your original files are untouched.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Stacking files that are not actually the same shape. If the columns differ a lot, stacking produces a sparse table full of blanks. Those files probably want one-sheet-per-file instead.
- Relying on column order. Stacking matches by header name, so make sure your headers are spelled consistently across files, since
Salesandsaleswith a trailing space are treated as different columns. - Expecting formulas to recalculate across files. Merging combines the values and structure; formulas that referenced the original separate files will not magically point at the new layout. Check any cross-file formulas after merging.
If the files you are merging came from people using Excel in different languages, you may hit formula errors too. See how to translate Excel formulas between languages.