Sheets-only Updated November 2026

JOIN and TEXTJOIN

JOIN(delimiter, value_or_array1, ...) concatenates all values in a range into one text with a separator between them, and TEXTJOIN(delimiter, ignore_empty, text1, ...) does the same but can skip empty cells. Both are the reverse of SPLIT and are the standard way to make a comma-separated list from a column.

Syntax

=JOIN(delimiter, value_or_array1, [value_or_array2, ...]) and =TEXTJOIN(delimiter, ignore_empty, text1, [text2, ...])

Part	What it is
`delimiter`	The text placed between values, for example ", " or CHAR(10) for a line break. Can be empty.
`ignore_empty`	TEXTJOIN only: TRUE skips blank cells, FALSE keeps a separator for each blank.
`value_or_array / text`	Cells, ranges or strings to combine.

Examples

=JOIN(", ", A2:A4)

Result: Ana, Ben, Cho (when A2:A4 hold those names)

=TEXTJOIN(", ", TRUE, A2:A10)

Result: The filled names only, blanks skipped

=TEXTJOIN(", ", TRUE, FILTER(A2:A10, B2:B10="Yes"))

Result: Only the names whose column B says Yes, as one list

FILTER picks the rows, TEXTJOIN flattens them.

Common mistakes

JOIN includes blanks, producing Ana, , Ben; switch to TEXTJOIN with TRUE as the second argument.
Joining numbers or dates gives serial numbers like 46329; wrap them in TEXT with a format first.
A result longer than 50,000 characters gives an error; join fewer rows.

Practice JOIN and TEXTJOIN

These drills check your answer on live data, free, no account needed.

Join the confirmed namesList the names of everyone who confirmed ("Yes"), separated by a comma and a space, in E2. Use JOIN and FILTER.

Questions

How do I join cells with a line break?

Use CHAR(10) as the delimiter and turn on wrapping for the cell: =TEXTJOIN(CHAR(10), TRUE, A2:A10).

What is the difference between JOIN and TEXTJOIN?

TEXTJOIN can ignore empty cells and accepts both ranges and single values; JOIN always keeps blanks. For most lists TEXTJOIN with TRUE is the better choice.

SPLITHow SPLIT in Google Sheets breaks text into separate cells by a comma, space or other delimiter, how to keep only the first or last piece, and common errors.
CONCATENATE and &How to combine cells in Google Sheets with CONCATENATE, CONCAT and the & operator, add spaces and separators, keep number and date formats, avoid mistakes.
FILTERHow the FILTER function in Google Sheets returns only rows that match one or more conditions, with examples for AND, OR, dates and text, plus common errors.
TEXTHow the TEXT function in Google Sheets turns a number or date into formatted text: month labels, currency, percentages and leading zeros, with common codes.