You need to use a function to do this... CONCATENATE Let's say this is your setup... Cell A1 - First Name Cell B1 - Last Name Cell C1 - This is where you want the Complete Name... Formula for cell C1... =CONCATENATE(A1," ",B1) (I concatenated the two cells along with a single space in between) To do this... Put cursor in Cell C1 MENU >> Insert >> Function Select CONCATENATE On Sun, Aug 23, 2009 at 1:41 PM, Anne Picketts<waipucove@gmail.com> wrote: > Is there anyone on the list who has experience with combining two columns > into one, i.e. surname, given names? > I have combined the columns successfully, but cannot get the names to read > as text in the formula bar.  That in itself is not a problem, but searching > for someone in a large database is - the name comes up as "not found".  I > have tried formatting cells without success. > > Thanks i.a. for any help. > > -- > Anne PICKETTS > Waipu, NZ > > > > :-~:-~:-~:-~:-~:-~:-~:-~:-~:-~: > > Take pity on Digest subscribers and remember to SNIP when replying. > > :-~:-~:-~:-~:-~:-~:-~:-~:-~:-~: > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to COMPUTERS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > -- -------- K. Ross kr5927@gmail.com

Thanks Kevin On Mon, Aug 24, 2009 at 8:35 AM, Kevin Ross <kr5927@gmail.com> wrote: > You need to use a function to do this... CONCATENATE > > Formula for cell C1... > =CONCATENATE(A1," ",B1) > (I concatenated the two cells along with a single space in between) I did all of those things - and the end result was perfect, just as I wanted it, but joy turned to dismay when I found the result in the formula - columns/numbers and not text. Diana has explained the reason why, so I should be able to sort it out now. Thanks Anne -- Anne PICKETTS Waipu, NZ