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Merge / Split Cells

In one sentence: Combine adjacent cells into a single wider or taller cell (Merge), or restore a merged cell back to individual cells (Split).

Overview

Workbench: Spreadsheet
Menu: Spreadsheet → Merge Cells / Split Cell
Toolbar: Spreadsheet · Shortcut: none

Tool Description
Merge Cells Combine the selected rectangular range into one spanning cell
Split Cell Restore a merged cell back to its constituent individual cells

Intuition

Merging cells is a display and layout operation, not a data operation. The merged cell spans multiple columns or rows visually, making it useful for:

  • Section headings in a spreadsheet that organise parameters into groups (e.g. "Structural Parameters" spanning columns A–D).
  • Wide label cells when a description is too long for a single column.
  • Visual grouping to make a complex spreadsheet easier to scan.

Merging does not combine data from multiple cells. Only the content of the top-left cell of the selection is kept; all other cells in the merge range lose their content.

Merge Cells

Menu: Spreadsheet → Merge Cells

Step-by-step

  1. Select the rectangular range to merge (click and drag, or click the first cell and Shift+click the last).
  2. Spreadsheet → Merge Cells.
  3. The selected range becomes a single cell spanning all the selected columns and rows.
  4. The content of the top-left cell of the range is kept. Content in the other cells is discarded.

Rules

  • The selection must be a rectangle (no non-contiguous selections).
  • Cells within the range that have aliases retain the alias if they are the top-left cell; other cells' aliases are lost.
  • A merged cell can still have an alias set on it.
  • A merged cell's content and formulas work the same as a regular cell.

Split Cell

Menu: Spreadsheet → Split Cell

Step-by-step

  1. Click the merged cell you want to split.
  2. Spreadsheet → Split Cell.
  3. The merged cell is split back into its constituent individual cells.
  4. The content of the merged cell moves to the top-left cell of the split range. The other cells are empty.

Python API

import FreeCAD as App

doc = App.newDocument()
sheet = doc.addObject("Spreadsheet::Sheet", "Sheet")

# Set some content
sheet.set("A1", "Section Header")
sheet.set("A2", "Length")
sheet.set("B2", "200 mm")
doc.recompute()

# Merge A1:D1 to create a wide header
# (Use the GUI tool; programmatic merge via Python):
sheet.mergeCells("A1:D1")
doc.recompute()

# Split the merge back
sheet.splitCell("A1")
doc.recompute()

Common mistakes and pitfalls

Merging discards content of non-top-left cells

Select the range only after moving all important content to the top-left cell of the intended merge. There is no undo path for the discarded content other than Ctrl+Z immediately after.

Merged cells and formula ranges

Range functions like sum(A1:A10) treat a merged cell spanning A1:A3 as a single value at A1. The cells A2 and A3 appear empty to the formula. Avoid merging cells inside ranges used by aggregate formulas.

See also