How to Easily Combine Multiple Excel Files into One Workbook

Working with multiple Excel files can get disorganized and messy pretty quickly. To keep things neat, you may want to merge several Excel workbooks into a single file.

Combining multiple Excel worksheets or workbooks into one single workbook can help you organize your spreadsheets better. Having one unified workbook makes it easier to analyze and visualize related data from separate files.

In this comprehensive guide you will learn several quick and easy methods to merge or import Excel files into one Excel workbook along with step-by-step instructions.

Let’s get started!

Why Combine Multiple Excel Files?

Here are some common scenarios when you may need to assemble data from different workbooks into one master file

• Consolidate data from multiple team members into one file for analysis.

• Import tables from several Excel worksheets into a summary report.

• Combine monthly sales reports from different regional offices into one workbook.

• Bring together different data sets from multiple research files for a project.

• Merge Excel sheets containing survey responses collected in separate files.

• Append Excel tables exported from various databases or systems.

By compiling related tables, sheets, and data into one place, you can:

• Streamline data analysis and reporting.

• Avoid data duplication across files.

• Gain holistic insights from integrated data.

• Reduce spreadsheet sprawl and clutter.

5 Quick Ways to Merge Excel Files

Here are 5 easy methods to combine multiple Excel worksheets or workbooks into one file:

1. Copy and Paste Data

This basic technique involves manually copying data from each file and pasting it into a new workbook.

Pros: Simple and straightforward. Gives full control over data.

Cons: Time-consuming for large data sets. Prone to human errors.

2. Import Data from Excel Files

Use Excel’s built-in import functionality to bring data from multiple files into a new or existing workbook.

Pros: Fast and automated process. Preserves data formatting.

Cons: Need to repeat import steps for each file.

3. Consolidate Data from Worksheets

Use the Consolidate option to aggregate data from multiple sheets into one summary worksheet.

Pros: Simple automated merging. Good for summing or averaging data.

Cons: Limited functionality compared to other methods.

4. Power Query Append Feature

Append multiple Excel tables into one using Excel’s Power Query tool.

Pros: Intuitive automated merging. Preserves data formatting.

Cons: Requires Power Query knowledge. Doesn’t work for pre-Excel 2010 versions.

5. VBA Macro to Merge Excel Files

Use a pre-made VBA macro script to combine all data from selected Excel files into one sheet.

Pros: Fast merging of unlimited files. Retains original formatting.

Cons: Requires enabling Macros. Need working knowledge of VBA.

Now let’s look at each of these merging methods in greater detail with step-by-step instructions.

Method 1: Copy and Paste Data from Excel Files

The most straightforward way to compile data from separate workbooks is manual copying and pasting. Here are the key steps:

1. Open the Excel files you want to combine from.

2. Create a new blank Excel workbook to paste the data into.

3. Switch between the source workbooks and select the data you want to copy from each file. Use Ctrl+C to copy the data.

4. Switch to the new target workbook and paste the copied data at the required location using Ctrl+V.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 to copy and paste data from all the different source files into the target workbook.

6. Save the combined workbook with an appropriate name.

Tip: When pasting data, make sure to use the Paste Special option and select Values to only paste the data without any formatting.

Method 2: Import Data from Excel Files into One Worksheet

Excel’s straightforward import data tool allows you to swiftly combine data from multiple Excel files into one sheet. Follow these instructions:

1. Place all the Excel files you want to import from in one folder. Open a new blank workbook to import the data into.

2. On the target sheet, navigate to the Data tab and click on the Get Data drop-down.

3. Click on From File and then From Workbook. Browse to and select the first file to import. Click Import.

4. The data will be imported into the current worksheet. Click the Transform Data button to load the data into the Power Query Editor.

5. In the Query Settings pane, change the import mode from Table to Worksheet. This will import all data from the file, not just a specific table.

6. Back in Excel, again go to Get data > From File > From Workbook and select the next file.

7. Repeat steps 4-6 to import and append the data from each additional file into the target worksheet.

8. Once done, close the Power Query Editor. The consolidated data from all files will now be in one workbook.

Method 3: Consolidate Data from Multiple Worksheets

The Consolidate functionality in Excel allows you to easily combine values from multiple worksheets into one summary report.

Here are the key steps to use this tool:

1. Open the Excel files you want to extract and consolidate data from. These are called the source workbooks.

2. Create a new blank target workbook and worksheet to consolidate the data into.

3. In the target sheet, click on the Formula tab and select Consolidate.

4. In the Consolidate dialog box, click the Add button to browse and select each source workbook.

5. In the prompts that appear, select the specific data range or table you want to pull from each source file. Click Add after selecting each.

6. Once done adding all workbooks, set the desired consolidate operation – Sum, Count, Average etc. Specify the location for the output data.

7. Click OK. The consolidated summary output will be populated at the selected location.

Note: This method only lets you consolidate values not full data tables. Use the append or macro methods for more flexibility.

Method 4: Use Power Query to Append Excel Files

Power Query is an Excel data transformation tool that allows you to intuitively combine data from multiple sources into one output sheet or table using the Append feature.

Follow these steps to use Power Query for merging Excel files:

1. Place all the source Excel files in one folder. Open a new workbook for the output.

2. Go to the Data tab. Click on Get Data and choose From File > From Excel.

3. Browse to and select the first source file. In the Navigator dialog, select the sheet or table to import from this file. Click Edit.

4. The data loads into Power Query Editor. In the toolbar, click Append Queries > Append From Excel.

5. Select the next source file, choose the sheet/table to append, and click OK.

6. Repeat step 5 for all additional files, appending each worksheet one by one.

7. After appending all files, click Close & Load in the Power Query toolbar. The consolidated data will load into a new sheet.

Tip: You can transform, shape, or clean your data in the Power Query Editor before loading it into Excel.

Method 5: Use a VBA Macro to Merge All Excel Files

For extensive Excel merging needs, macros can make combining multiple data files into one extremely simple.

Here are the key steps to use an Excel macro for merging files:

1. Open a new blank target workbook to merge the files into.

2. Press Alt + F8 to open the Macro dialog box.

3. Under Macro name, select MergeExcelFiles and click Run.

4. An explorer window opens, you select one or more source files you want to combine, and click Open.

5. The macro will automatically import and consolidate all data from the selected files into the active worksheet.

That’s it! The macro script handles the entire merging process for you in seconds.

Tips for Merging Excel Data Efficiently

Follow these tips for a smooth and effective Excel file consolidation process:

• Clearly identify headers/column names when combining dissimilar data sets.

• Be consistent with data types and formatting across files for easy analysis.

• Watch out for duplicate entries when appending Excel tables.

• Audit and clean data beforehand to avoid errors in merged files.

• Sort and filter consolidated data to check for outliers or inconsistencies.

• Use PivotTables or formulas to summarize aggregated data from merged files.

Quickly Combine Excel Files Like a Pro!

Combining multiple Excel worksheets, tables, or workbooks into a single unified file is a common data wrangling task.

With the 5 merging methods covered in this guide – copy-paste, import, consolidate, Power Query append, and VBA macros – you can easily consolidate Excel data from any number of files.

The next time you need to assemble, organize, and analyze related data spread across different work