What This Tool Does

This tool merges two or more columns from your CSV into a single new column. Select the columns to combine, choose a separator (space, comma, hyphen, etc.), and optionally remove the original columns after merging.

Merge Options

Column selection: Choose which columns to merge. Select two or more columns in the order you want them combined.

Separator: Choose what goes between merged values: space, comma, hyphen, underscore, pipe, or custom character.

New column name: Name the merged column. Default is "merged" or a combination of original names.

Remove original columns: Delete the source columns after merging to keep the CSV clean.

Example: Merge Names

Input CSV:

first_name,last_name,email
John,Smith,[email protected]
Jane,Doe,[email protected]

Merge first_name + last_name with space separator, new column: full_name

Output CSV:

full_name,email
John Smith,[email protected]
Jane Doe,[email protected]

Example: Merge Address Parts

Input CSV:

street,city,state,zip
123 Main St,Springfield,IL,62701
456 Oak Ave,Shelbyville,OH,43001

Merge all columns with ", " separator, new column: full_address

Output CSV:

full_address
123 Main St, Springfield, IL, 62701
456 Oak Ave, Shelbyville, OH, 43001

Example: Create Composite Keys

Input CSV:

country,year,product,sales
US,2024,Widget,1000
US,2024,Gadget,500
UK,2024,Widget,800

Merge country + year + product with "-" separator, new column: key

Output CSV:

key,sales
US-2024-Widget,1000
US-2024-Gadget,500
UK-2024-Widget,800

When to Use This

Full name creation: Combine first_name and last_name for display purposes or mail merges.

Address consolidation: Merge street, city, state, zip into a single address field for APIs that expect one line.

Composite keys: Create unique identifiers by combining multiple fields for joins or lookups.

Full text search: Combine multiple text columns into one for search indexing.

Data simplification: Reduce column count by merging related fields that are always used together.

Separator Options

Space: Default for names and natural language text.

Comma: Common for list-like data or CSV-in-CSV scenarios.

Hyphen: Good for composite keys or codes.

Underscore: Common for database field names or programming identifiers.

Pipe (|): Useful when data may contain commas or spaces.

Custom: Any character or string you need for your specific use case.

Handling Empty Values

When merging, empty cells are handled gracefully:

Empty in middle: "John" + "" + "Smith" with space separator becomes "John Smith" (double space).

Empty at end: Trailing separators are typically not added for empty final columns.

Consider cleaning empty values before merging if double separators are problematic.

Limitations

Large files: Works best with files under 50MB. Very large files may cause slow performance.

Many columns: Merging dozens of columns creates very wide output that may be hard to work with.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I merge non-adjacent columns?

Yes. Select any columns in any order. They'll be merged in the order you select them.

What if I want different separators for different columns?

This tool uses one separator for all columns. For varying separators, merge in multiple steps or use a script.

Can I split the merged column back later?

Yes, use the CSV Column Splitter tool with the same separator to reverse the merge.