Google Sheets is an excellent tool for organizing and analyzing data. One feature that can make your sheets more readable is the ability to merge cells. However, if you’re working with a large sheet, it can sometimes be difficult to locate these merged cells. In this blog post, we will go through the steps for finding merged cells in Google Sheets.
What is a merged cell?
A merged cell in Google Sheets is a cell that combines two or more cells into one larger cell. You might want to merge cells to center a title over a particular section of your spreadsheet or to keep together information that spans multiple cells.
Finding Merged Cells in Google Sheets
Unfortunately, there isn’t a built-in tool in Google Sheets that allows you to find all merged cells. However, you can use Google Apps Script to achieve this. Here is a simple script that will highlight all merged cells with a specific color.
Step 1: Open Google Apps Script
Go to Google Sheets and open the spreadsheet that contains the merged cells. Click on ‘Extensions’ in the menu, then ‘Apps Script’. This will open the Apps Script Editor.
Step 2: Create a new script
Click on ‘File’ then ‘New’ to create a new script. You can name this script ‘Find Merged Cells’ or anything you like.
Step 3: Enter the script
Copy and paste the following script into the Apps Script Editor:
function highlightMergedCells() {
var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getActiveSheet();
var range = sheet.getRange(1, 1, sheet.getMaxRows(), sheet.getMaxColumns());
var mergedRanges = range.getMergedRanges();
for (var i = 0; i < mergedRanges.length; i++) {
mergedRanges[i].setBackground('yellow');
}
}
This script will get all the merged cells in the active sheet and set their background color to yellow.
Step 4: Run the script
Click on the play button (▶) to run the script. You’ll be asked to review permissions. After granting the necessary permissions, the script will run and all merged cells in the active sheet will be highlighted in yellow.
Wrap Up
Finding merged cells in Google Sheets might require a bit of coding knowledge, but with the help of Google Apps Script, it can be done in just a few steps. This is just one example of how powerful Google Sheets can be when combined with a bit of scripting. Happy coding!
