Merged cells can be a problem when you need to sort data a certain way. For example, when you try to sort a range that has merged cells, you'll see an error: "This operation requires merged cells to be identically sized."

If you have too many merged calls on your worksheet, you probably wouldn't want to unmerge each cell manually and then try sorting the data. Fortunately, Excel's Find feature is powerful enough to find and select all merged cells on a worksheet. Once merged cells are selected, you can unmerge them with a single click.

Note that it's easy to unmerge all cells. However, you need to use the Find feature if you want to only unmerge only select cells in a worksheet without unmerging them individually.

Unmerge All Merged Cells in Microsoft Excel

Unmerging all cells is fairly straightforward. Press Ctrl + A, click on the Home tab, then the Merge & Center icon, and then select Unmerge cells.

If you're on a Mac, this is the only method you'll be able to use. The method discussed in the next section only works in Windows.

Unmerge Select Cells in Microsoft Excel for Windows

This method is helpful when you only want to unmerge select cells, even more so if you've hidden the gridlines on your worksheet, making spotting merged cells a nightmare.

The process involves two steps. The first step is to find and select all the merged cells in your worksheet using the Find feature in Excel. The second step is to select the cells you want to unmerge from the list of merged cells and unmerging them.

Step 1: Find Merged Cells

Start by selecting the cell range you want to search for merged cells. The easiest way is to press Ctrl + A and select all cells, assuming you don't want to target only a specific portion of the worksheet. Don't worry if the selection includes cells you don't want to unmerge. You can exclude them from your selection later.

After selecting the cells, press Ctrl + F. Alternatively, you can click on the Home tab from the top-left of the Excel window. Then, click on the Find & Select option in the Editing group of tools from the ribbon at the top and select Find.

Click the Options button in the Find and Replace window. When the options appear, click on the Format button.

In the Find Format window, select the Alignment tab, check the box to the left of Merge cells, and click OK.

When you return to the Find and Replace window, click the Find All button. You'll see all the merged cells listed at the bottom of the window.

Step 2: Select and Unmerge Cells

Now that you have the complete list, you can select the cells you want to unmerge. Press-hold the Ctrl key and click on the merged cells you want to select. Alternatively, you can press-hold the Shift key and click on any merged cell from the list. Doing so will select that and all the cells above it in the list.

Once you've selected the cells, go back to the Home tab in Microsoft Excel and click on the Merge & Center icon from the Alignment group of tools. Select Unmerge cells.

Unmerging Cells Made Easy

Hopefully, you were able to unmerge select cells on your worksheet and sort the data as per your preference. Thanks to Microsoft Excel's Find function, you can search for a wide range of elements in the worksheet and apply changes at scale.

The Find function isn't the only handy feature, though. If you use Microsoft Excel regularly, you should learn about its advanced features to save yourself some time and increase your productivity.