Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Office 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Merging Cells to a Single Sum.
As you analyze your data in a worksheet, one common task is to look for ways to simplify the amount of data you need to work with. One way to do this is to "merge" several consecutive cells together in an Excel worksheet, leaving only the sum of the original cells as a value. For instance, if you have values in the range B3:F3, how would you collapse the range into a single cell that contains just the sum of that range?
The easiest way I have found to accomplish this task is as follows:
Figure 1. The Paste Special dialog box.
When you clicked the down-arrow under the Paste tool (in step 7), you may have noticed a number of different choices you could make. If you don't want to display the Paste Special dialog box, you could instead click the Values option in the Paste Values section of the drop-down list. The Values option is the left-most option in the Paste Values section; it looks like a clipboard with the number 123 on it.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (9146) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Office 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Merging Cells to a Single Sum.
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2018-11-09 05:54:07
Mark
For us keyboard centric folks (and which I find to be much quicker than mousing about) Ctrl-C to copy and then Alt-E S V to Paste Special Values.
I use this very often when I want to paste a value into a formatted cell and don't want to disturb the formatting. Again, much quicker than clicking the Down Icon under the Paste button and figuring out which icon is Preserve Formatting.
And whilst I have this soapbox - Alt-E S T copies only the format.
2018-11-09 03:00:55
Col Delane
Why convert the SUM formula cells to values? Wouldn't it be far better (flexible, etc.) to leave the SUM formulas in place (that's why Excel has such functions!)? If desired, select the columns holding the underlying values and then collapse them under an Outline by Grouping them, so that you can quickly display or hide them as required.
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Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Office 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: 
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