Creating an auto-expanding concatenation formula in Google Sheets

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1

I’m trying to combine the content of four cells into one in Google Sheets. I’ve got a formula that works when I copy it down manually:

=ARRAYFORMULA(CONCATENATE(D3:H3 & ", "))

But what I really need is a way to make this formula automatically apply to new rows as they’re added. Is there a way to set this up so I don’t have to keep copying the formula down every time I add new data? I’m not sure if I need to use a different function or if there’s a setting I’m missing. Any help would be great!

2

hey alexlee, i’ve got a trick that might help. try this formula:

=ARRAYFORMULA(IF(D3:D<>“”, D3:D&", “&E3:E&”, “&F3:F&”, “&G3:G&”, "&H3:H, “”))

it’ll auto-expand and u won’t need to copy it down. just pop it in the top cell where u want the combined stuff. lemme know if it works for ya!

3

I’ve been in a similar situation before, and I found a solution that works really well. Instead of using CONCATENATE, try using JOIN with ARRAYFORMULA. Here’s the formula I use:

=ARRAYFORMULA(IF(LEN(D3:D), JOIN(", ", D3:H3), “”))

This formula will automatically expand to new rows as you add data. The IF statement checks if there’s any content in column D (you can change this to any column you want to use as a trigger). If there is, it joins the content of columns D to H with commas; if not, it leaves the cell blank.

I’ve been using this for months now, and it’s saved me so much time. No more manually copying formulas down! Just make sure you apply this formula to the entire column where you want the concatenated results to appear. Hope this helps!

4

I’ve encountered this issue before in my work with large datasets. Here’s a robust solution that’s served me well:

=ARRAYFORMULA(IF(ROW(D:D)=1, “Concatenated”, IF(LEN(D:D), D:D&", “&E:E&”, “&F:F&”, “&G:G&”, "&H:H, “”)))

This formula does a few key things:

  1. Automatically expands to new rows
  2. Creates a header for the column
  3. Only populates cells where there’s data in column D

Apply this to the entire column where you want your results. It’s been quite reliable in my experience, even with frequent data updates.