How to Merge Excel Files Into One: 6 Methods That Work in 2026

The most reliable way to merge Excel files is Power Query’s From Folder command. You put the workbooks in one folder, point Excel at that folder, and it stacks every file into a single table that you can refresh next month instead of rebuilding. It is built into Excel for Windows at no extra cost. The one requirement: the files need the same column headers.

Other merge jobs call for other tools. Copying a few tabs into one workbook takes a right-click. Stacking sheets that already live in one file is a one-line VSTACK formula in current Excel. Totals across identical budget sheets are what Consolidate was built for. And comparing two edited versions of the same file, then merging the changes, is where a paid add-in still earns its price.

Updated, September 14, 2026: Rewritten around Excel’s built-in merge methods, with every step checked against current Microsoft Support pages, including Mac and web limits. Added VSTACK and a VBA option, corrected Synkronizer pricing, and removed Excel-Tool, whose domain now redirects to a gambling site.

Which method should you use to merge Excel files?

Match the method to what the finished file should look like. One long table, a workbook with many tabs, or a summary of totals each need a different approach.

Your situation	Best method	Where it works
Many files with the same columns, updated regularly	Power Query From Folder	Excel 2016 or later on Windows
Two to five workbooks, tabs kept separate	Move or Copy sheets	Desktop Excel, Windows and Mac
Sheets already in one workbook, one live list wanted	VSTACK formula	Microsoft 365, Excel 2024
Totals or averages across identical sheets	Consolidate or a 3D reference	Desktop Excel
A folder of workbooks into one file, no shared headers	VBA macro	Windows desktop Excel
Two versions of the same file with edits in both	Synkronizer or Spreadsheet Compare	Windows

If you only have Excel for the web, the options shrink to copying and pasting, covered in the Move or Copy section below. Any of the desktop methods will need the full app; see how to install Microsoft 365 on Windows and Mac if you don’t have it yet.

Combine multiple Excel files into one with Power Query (recommended)

Power Query reads every file in a folder, uses one file as a sample to work out the columns, and appends the rest underneath. Microsoft’s instructions for importing from a folder apply to Excel for Microsoft 365 and Excel 2016 through 2024 on Windows. The merge is only as clean as the folder you point it at, so set that up first:

• Put only the files you want to merge in a dedicated folder. Power Query also includes files sitting in subfolders.
• Use the same column headers in every file. Order doesn’t matter, since columns are matched by name, but “Qty” in one file and “Quantity” in another become two separate columns.
• Keep the sheet or table name identical across workbooks (every file has a sheet called Sales, for example). Power Query looks for the sample file’s sheet name in all the others.

Steps in Excel for Windows

1. Open a new, blank workbook.
2. Select Data > Get Data > From File > From Folder.
3. Browse to the folder that holds your workbooks and select Open.
4. Check the file list that appears. If a stray file is in there, cancel, move it out of the folder and start again.
5. Select Combine > Combine & Transform Data. Pick Combine & Load instead if the data needs no cleanup.
6. In the Combine Files dialog, choose the Sample File, select the sheet or table that holds the data, tick Skip files with errors if you want broken files ignored, and select OK.
7. In the Power Query Editor, look at the Source.Name column, which records the file each row came from. Remove any columns you don’t need, then select Home > Close & Load.

The combined table lands on a new sheet. When next month’s files arrive, save them into the same folder and select Data > Refresh All. Power Query also creates helper queries (Sample File, Transform File and Parameter1) in the Queries pane. Leave them alone, because the main query depends on them.

On a Mac: import each workbook, then append

Excel for Microsoft 365 for Mac has Power Query, and the editor requires version 16.69 or later. The catch is folders. Microsoft’s Mac Power Query documentation lists folders among the sources you can refresh but not among those you can import, so a From Folder query built on Windows refreshes on a Mac, while creating one there isn’t documented. For a handful of files, this route works:

1. Select Data > Get Data (Power Query), choose Excel workbook and pick the first file.
2. Select the sheet or table you want and load it.
3. Repeat for each workbook.
4. Open the editor with Data > Get Data (Power Query) > Launch Power Query Editor.
5. Select the arrow next to Append Queries on the Home tab, choose Append Queries as New, pick Three or more tables, add every query and select OK.
6. Select Home > Close & Load.

Append lines columns up by header name, not position, and fills any column missing from one file with null values, according to Microsoft’s guide to appending queries. If your Mac build does show a From Folder option, the Windows steps above apply.

Merge Excel sheets into one workbook with Move or Copy

When you want each source tab kept intact, with its formatting, formulas and charts, copy whole sheets rather than merging rows. For two to five workbooks this is the quickest route.

1. Open the destination workbook and every workbook you want to copy from.
2. In a source workbook, select the sheet tab. Hold Ctrl to pick several tabs, or Shift to pick a run of adjacent ones.
3. Right-click a selected tab and choose Move or Copy.
4. In the To book list, choose the destination workbook, or (new book) to start a fresh file.
5. Under Before sheet, choose where the copies go, or (move to end).
6. Tick Create a copy so the original stays where it is, then select OK.

On a Mac, the same dialog sits under Edit > Sheet > Move or Copy Sheet. Excel for the web has no Move or Copy option on the sheet tab, according to Microsoft’s guide to moving and copying worksheets. In the browser you select all the data, copy it, add a blank sheet in the other workbook and paste, accepting that conditional formatting is lost on the way.

Check formulas after any copy. Microsoft warns that moving sheets between workbooks can break formulas and charts that refer to them, and a formula that pointed at another sheet in the old file may now point back at the old workbook.

Stack sheets into a single list with VSTACK

If the sheets already sit in one workbook (after Move or Copy, for instance) and share the same columns, VSTACK builds one live list from a single formula. It appends ranges top to bottom, and the result updates whenever a source sheet changes. Microsoft’s VSTACK reference lists it for Excel for Microsoft 365 on Windows and Mac and for Excel 2024 on both platforms. Excel 2021 and older don’t have it.

1. Turn each sheet’s data into a table: click inside the data and press Ctrl+T. Tables grow as rows are added, so the formula won’t miss new entries or pick up blank rows.
2. Note each table’s name, shown on the table’s ribbon tab when a cell inside it is selected (Table1, Table2 and so on, unless you rename them).
3. On a new sheet, type the column headers once in row 1.
4. In cell A2, enter a formula such as =VSTACK(Table1, Table2, Table3) and press Enter. The results spill down as far as needed.

Plain ranges work too, as in =VSTACK(Jan!A2:D200, Feb!A2:D200, Mar!A2:D200), but empty cells in an oversized range show up as zeros in the result. If one range has fewer columns than the others, Excel fills the gap with #N/A errors, which you can hide by wrapping the formula in IFERROR.

Its sibling HSTACK works sideways, placing ranges next to each other. That suits adding a block of columns from one sheet beside another, provided the rows are in the same order in both.

Consolidate or 3D references: when you only need totals

Consolidate doesn’t stack rows. It summarizes them, producing sums, averages or counts across sheets that hold the same kind of data, such as regional budgets. Microsoft’s guide to combining data from multiple sheets describes two modes. Consolidating by position needs every sheet laid out identically. Consolidating by category matches rows and columns by their labels, so layouts can differ, but the labels must be spelled exactly the same: “Avg” and “Average” won’t match.

1. On the destination sheet, select the upper-left cell where the summary should start, leaving room below and to the right.
2. Select Data > Consolidate.
3. Choose a Function, such as Sum or Average.
4. Go to the first source sheet, select its data (including the labels if you are consolidating by category) and select Add. Repeat for every source sheet.
5. To consolidate by category, tick Top row, Left column or both under Use labels in.
6. Select OK.

Microsoft’s troubleshooting notes say the Consolidate command may be missing in Excel for the web; there, VSTACK or Power Query are the suggested alternatives.

3D references for a single running total

For one total across many identically arranged sheets, a 3D reference is quicker than Consolidate. The formula =SUM(Sales:Marketing!B3) adds cell B3 on every sheet from the Sales tab through the Marketing tab, and any sheet you drag between those two tabs joins the calculation automatically, as Microsoft’s 3D reference guide shows. To build one, type =SUM( then click the first sheet tab, Shift-click the last, select the cell or range and press Enter. 3D references only work with aggregate functions such as SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT, MAX and MIN, not with lookup functions.

VBA macro to merge every workbook in a folder (Windows)

A macro is the fallback when files don’t share headers, or when you want every tab from dozens of workbooks gathered into one file without opening each by hand. The sample below copies each worksheet from every .xlsx file in a folder into the workbook you run it from. Each source sheet becomes its own tab; it does not stack rows into one table.

Sample macro, Windows desktop Excel only. It uses standard VBA calls (Dir, Workbooks.Open and Worksheet.Copy). Try it on copies of your files first.

' Sample macro: copies every worksheet from each .xlsx file in a folder
' into the workbook that runs it. Windows desktop Excel only.
Sub CombineWorkbooksFromFolder()
    Dim folderPath As String
    Dim fileName As String
    Dim sourceBook As Workbook
    Dim sourceSheet As Worksheet

    folderPath = "C:\Reports\"          ' change this; keep the trailing backslash
    fileName = Dir(folderPath & "*.xlsx")

    Application.ScreenUpdating = False
    Do While fileName <> ""
        Set sourceBook = Workbooks.Open(folderPath & fileName, ReadOnly:=True)
        For Each sourceSheet In sourceBook.Worksheets
            sourceSheet.Copy After:=ThisWorkbook.Sheets(ThisWorkbook.Sheets.Count)
        Next sourceSheet
        sourceBook.Close SaveChanges:=False
        fileName = Dir()
    Loop
    Application.ScreenUpdating = True

    MsgBox "Finished. Check the new tabs in this workbook."
End Sub

1. Put the .xlsx files in one folder and copy the folder path.
2. Open a new blank workbook and press Alt+F11 to open the Visual Basic Editor.
3. Select Insert > Module and paste the code.
4. Replace C:\Reports\ with your folder path, keeping the backslash at the end.
5. Press F5 to run the macro, then close the editor.
6. Save the result as a normal .xlsx workbook, which drops the macro, or as .xlsm if you want to keep it.

Each source file opens read-only and closes without saving, so the originals aren’t changed. Sheets with duplicate names get a number added, such as Sheet1 (2). To include .xlsm and .xls files, change the pattern to “*.xls*”, but keep the macro workbook itself outside that folder so it doesn’t try to copy itself.

Pasting code you understand is one thing; opening a macro-enabled workbook someone sends you is another. Office blocks macros in files from the internet by default because VBA is a common way to deliver malware, so only unblock files from a source you trust.

Third-party Excel merge tools in 2026: what’s still safe to use

Excel’s built-in features handle most merges. Paid add-ins make sense for two jobs: combining lots of workbooks through a point-and-click wizard, and reconciling two versions of the same file cell by cell. Both add-ins below are Windows-only. Download them from the developer’s own site rather than third-party download portals.

Ablebits Ultimate Suite (Copy Sheets)

Ablebits’ Copy Sheets tool offers four ways to combine workbooks, including merging identically named sheets from different files into one sheet and choosing whether to paste values or formulas. It ships inside Ultimate Suite, an add-in for desktop Excel 2016 through 2024 and Microsoft 365 with a 14-day free trial. Ablebits pricing is a one-time USD 49 for the Personal edition (one user, two computers) or USD 99 for Business. It suits people who merge files every week and would rather click through a wizard than maintain a query.

Synkronizer 11

Synkronizer, from XL Consulting GmbH, is built for a different problem: two versions of the same workbook, such as a master customer list and a copy someone else edited. It finds added or deleted rows and columns, duplicate records, and changed values, formulas, comments and formats, then lets you push chosen changes from one file to the other.

After the comparison, the results pane counts differences by type for each worksheet. You can transfer changes one at a time or apply a whole category, such as every changed value on a sheet, in a single step.

Synkronizer 11 supports Excel 2010 through Microsoft 365. The Professional edition costs EUR 99 per license when you buy one to four, a perpetual price that includes support and minor upgrades, with major upgrades at half price. The free trial compares only the cell range A1:Z100, per the Synkronizer editions page, which is enough to test it on a sample before paying.

Microsoft Spreadsheet Compare

If your organization licenses Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise or Office Professional Plus, you may already have Spreadsheet Compare. It produces a side-by-side, color-coded report of changed values, formulas and macros between two workbooks. It doesn’t merge anything, so you still apply the changes yourself, but it is a free way to confirm exactly what changed first. Consumer plans such as Microsoft 365 Personal and Family don’t include it.

Removed: Excel-Tool, plus a warning about online merge sites

Earlier versions of this guide recommended Excel-Tool. Its domain, excel-tool.com, now redirects to an unrelated online gambling site, so the link is gone. Don’t install anything offered there.

Free browser-based “merge XLSX” services work by uploading your files to someone else’s server. That’s acceptable for a public price list and a poor choice for payroll, customer records or anything covered by a confidentiality agreement. If spreadsheets have to leave your machine, follow the basics of securing data transfer first.

After the merge: remove duplicates and check headers

Merged lists often contain repeats, such as the same customer entered by two departments. Select a cell in the combined data, choose Data > Remove Duplicates (in the Data Tools group), and tick only the columns that define a duplicate, such as an email address, rather than every column. Removing duplicates deletes rows permanently, so Microsoft’s duplicate values guide suggests filtering for unique values first or copying the original range to another sheet.

Remove Duplicates only catches exact matches. “St.” and “Street”, or a stray trailing space, count as different values, so tidy text columns with TRIM and standardize obvious variants before you run it. In the Power Query Editor, Home > Remove Rows > Remove Duplicates does the same job and repeats automatically on every refresh.

Two practical notes to finish. If the source files are scattered across cloud accounts, gather them into one synced folder before pointing Power Query at it; syncing Google Drive with OneDrive is one way to get there. For other Office file jobs, the steps to convert a PowerPoint presentation into an editable Word document follow the same built-in-first approach.

Merge Excel files FAQs

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