Never use the CONCATENATE function in Excel!
Sometimes you’ll read Excel tips suggesting the CONCATENATE function as a great tool you may not have known about.
And CONCATENATE would be super useful, except that there’s a much better and easier way to do exactly what CONCATENATE does.
CONCATENATE joins two or more text strings – either by referencing the cell containing the text string, or placing the text string in quotes.
In this example, it’s joining the text in cell A3, saying ‘This is the,’ then the text in the quotation marks, which is just a space, and the text in cell B3, saying ‘wrong way to do it.’ The output is ‘This is the wrong way to to do it.’
But you can do the exact same thing using an ampersand – the & symbol – instead.
By using the &, we joined the text in A5, a space, and the text in B5.
It did the exact same thing as the CONCATENATE function, but you didn’t have to type out a whole long formula with an 11 letter word that nobody knows the meaning of.
CONCATENATE is dumb and you should never use it, because & is quicker, easier, and better.
For more quick and easy tips, check out Freezing Panes to Make Your Life Easier and Filters: Excel’s Easy Button.