How to Merge Multiple Excel Files Into One (Free Way First)

At a glance

First: one table, or one workbook?

"Merge Excel files into one" means two different jobs, and the right tool depends on which one you have.

• One table (append). Twelve monthly sales files with the same columns should become one long list you can filter, sort and pivot. This is the common case, and Excel's From Folder is built for it.
• One workbook (collect). Five reports from five people should sit in one file, each on its own tab, unchanged. Here you're moving sheets, not stacking rows, and Move or Copy is the free route.

Every tool in this guide does both, under different names. Keep your answer in mind as you read.

Free way 1: one table with Get Data From Folder

Excel's From Folder import is Power Query, and Microsoft lists it for Excel 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024 and Microsoft 365 on Windows. It stacks every file in a folder into one table, matching columns by their names, and it remembers the steps, so next month you drop the new file into the folder and click Refresh.

1. Put the files you want to merge in their own folder, with nothing else in it. Every file in the folder, and in any subfolder, is included.
2. In a new workbook, select Data > Get Data > From File > From Folder and choose the folder.
3. Check that the list shows the files you expect, then choose Combine > Combine & Load.
4. In the Combine Files dialog, pick the sheet or table to take from each file in the Sample File box. Tick Skip files with errors if a stray file might break the run, then select OK.
5. The merged table lands on a new sheet. Its first column, Source.Name, holds the name of the file each row came from.
6. When new files arrive, put them in the folder and select Data > Refresh All.

In our test, a folder query over three workbooks with a "Sales" sheet each returned one six-row table, and the file whose Region and Product columns were swapped still lined up correctly, because Power Query matches by column name rather than position. If the header row isn't the first row in your files, choose Combine & Transform Data instead and fix the sample file's steps (remove the top rows, then use the first row as headers). Power Query applies the same fix to every file.

Free way 2: one workbook with Move or Copy

Excel's Move or Copy command copies whole sheets, with their formatting and formulas, into another workbook. It's the right free tool when you have a few files and want each sheet kept as its own tab. It also works on a Mac.

1. Open the destination workbook and every workbook you're copying from.
2. In a source workbook, right-click the sheet tab and choose Move or Copy. Ctrl-click to select several tabs first if you want more than one.
3. In To book, choose the destination workbook, or (new book) to start a fresh one.
4. Pick a position under Before sheet (or move to end), tick Create a copy so the original stays where it is, and select OK.
5. Repeat for each source workbook, then rename the tabs so you can tell them apart.

On a Mac, the same command is under Edit > Sheet > Move or Copy Sheet. Microsoft warns you to check any formulas or charts that refer to a sheet after moving it between workbooks, and that 3-D references across sheets may include or leave out data afterward. The real limit is patience: ten files a month means ten rounds of the dialog, and if you then need one table, you're back to copying and pasting rows.

What about a macro? If you already write VBA, a short loop that opens each file and copies its sheets does the same job as Move or Copy and is worth it for a monthly routine. We haven't given one here because we didn't test a macro, and a copied macro you don't understand is a poor thing to run on the only copy of your files.

Kutools for Excel

Kutools for Excel puts the whole job in one three-step wizard, under Kutools Plus > Combine. The first step asks which of four jobs you want: combine sheets from many workbooks into one sheet, combine all same-named sheets into one sheet, combine sheets from many workbooks into one workbook, or consolidate and calculate values across workbooks into one sheet. So the "one table or one workbook" question is literally the first choice you make.

Step 1 of the Combine Worksheets wizard, with the four combine operations and a preview of two small tables stacked into one. The data is the vendor's example.

Step 2 is where it pulls ahead of the free routes. You add files one by one, a whole folder, CSV files or OneDrive files, then tick the sheets you want in each workbook and set a range for each one. Same sheet selects every sheet with the same name across all the workbooks in one click, and Same range applies one range to every sheet. A Password button stores the passwords of protected workbooks so they open during the merge. You can save the whole selection as a Scenario and reopen it next month instead of picking the files again.

Step 2: three workbooks ticked on the left, and Sheet1 to Sheet3 with the range $A$1:$C$5 on the right, above the Same range and Same sheet buttons. The Password and Scenario buttons are at the bottom left.

Step 3 handles the details that make a merged sheet usable. Set the number of header rows and total rows, and Kutools keeps the first header and drops the repeated headers and totals from every other sheet. You can paste everything, values only, or links to the source data, keep formatting and row heights, skip filtered-out rows, skip or keep blank ranges, and insert each source sheet's name as a new row or a comment, so you know where each block came from.

Step 3: Combine by row or by column, header and total rows set to 1, paste options with Preserve formatting ticked, a Skip setting for blank ranges, and the Insert worksheet information choices. The numbered circles are the vendor's.

The difference from From Folder is that Kutools for Excel doesn't need matching column names. It stacks the ranges you pick, by row or by column, which suits sheets that share a layout but not exact headings, and it keeps the formatting. The flip side is that there's no option to match columns by name, so line up the column order in your files before you merge. Kutools also doesn't build a refreshable query. A saved Scenario repeats the selection, and Paste link to source data keeps the cells tied to the originals, but a growing folder of new files still means running the wizard again.

The rest of the add-in is why the price is higher than a single-purpose tool: the same $59 buys duplicate finders, text cleaning, merging cells without losing data, and splitting a merged sheet back out by column. Whether that matters depends on how much of your day you spend in Excel.

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Excel Merger PRO

The Excel Merger window: a drop area for files, the Merge list set to Files, the Output list set to XLSX, the sheet range, row and delimiter boxes, and the Start Merging Now button. Image from NirmalTV's write-up.

Excel Merger PRO is a drop-and-go tool. Drag files onto the window, pick a mode in the Merge list, choose an output format and folder, and click Start Merging Now. Files puts every file's sheets into one file as separate tabs. Files & Sheets pours all the sheets of all the files into one sheet in one file. Sheets merges the sheets inside each file, and Rows and Columns join chosen rows or columns into one with a delimiter. A sheet range limits the merge to some sheets in each file.

Its strengths are format range and independence. It reads and writes XLSX, XLS, ODS, CSV and XML, so a LibreOffice file and a CSV export can end up in one XLSX, and it runs on a PC with no Office license at all. The weak points are a lack of control and of recent work: there's no preview, the tutorial says nothing about formatting, formulas or matching columns, and the installer on the vendor's site dates from December 2022. The free version uses the same modes but adds random text to merged files and isn't licensed for commercial use, so it's good for testing a layout and nothing more.

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Spreadsheet Combiner

Spreadsheet Combiner with a CSV, an XLSX and an XLS file queued, Merge into Single Sheet selected, the Plain Text option and the Combine button.

Spreadsheet Combiner has exactly the two choices this guide started with. Merge into Single Sheet appends everything into one sheet (CSV, XLS or XLSX output), and Merge into Multiple Sheets keeps each source sheet as its own tab (XLS or XLSX). Add files or a whole folder, tick Plain Text if you don't want the fonts and colors carried over, and click Combine. Nothing is uploaded, which matters for payroll or client data that you wouldn't put through a free merge website.

It's simple to a fault. Single Sheet mode appends rows as they are, so repeated header rows from each file stay in the result, and there's no column naming the source file, which is exactly what its one user review asks for. It doesn't match columns by name either. Version 1.3 dates from July 2024. For $19 it does the basic job offline, but if your files share the same columns and you have Excel on Windows, From Folder does that job better for free.

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Which should you choose?

Who should skip each one: skip Kutools for Excel if you merge files once a year, since the free methods cover you, or if you're on a Mac. Skip Excel Merger PRO if you want control over headers and formatting, or dislike yearly renewals. Skip Spreadsheet Combiner if you need clean single-sheet output without repeated headers, or already have Excel on Windows and files with matching columns.

What commonly goes wrong

• Mismatched headings. "Qty" in one file and "Quantity" in another become two columns in From Folder and two half-empty columns after any merge. Fix the headings in the source files first.
• Repeated header rows in the middle of the data. Stacking tools that don't know about headers leave one header row per file. Filter them out, or use a tool with a header setting.
• Lost track of the source. Once the rows are stacked, you can't tell which file a bad row came from. From Folder's Source.Name column and Kutools' worksheet-information option solve this; the stand-alone tools don't.
• Merging into the only copy. Work on copies of your files, especially the first time you try a new tool.
• Forgetting the renewal. Excel Merger PRO's order is set to renew every 12 months. Untick it at checkout if you want it once.
• Uploading private files. Free merge websites mean sending your data to someone else's server. Everything in this guide runs on your own PC.

FAQs

Can I merge multiple Excel files into one for free?

Yes. Excel's Data > Get Data > From File > From Folder stacks every file in a folder into one table on Windows, and Move or Copy copies whole sheets into one workbook on Windows or Mac. Both are already part of Excel.

How do I combine multiple Excel files into one sheet?

Get Data From Folder combines files into one sheet for free when they share column names. Kutools for Excel's Combine wizard does it for files that don't line up, and drops repeated header rows. Spreadsheet Combiner's Single Sheet mode and Excel Merger PRO's Files & Sheets mode also do it without Excel.

How do I merge Excel files into one workbook with separate tabs?

Excel's Move or Copy command copies each sheet into one workbook for free, one dialog per source file. Kutools for Excel, Excel Merger PRO (Files mode) and Spreadsheet Combiner (Multiple Sheets mode) do all the files in one run.

Does Get Data From Folder work in Excel 2016 or 2019?

Yes. Microsoft lists the From Folder import for Excel 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024 and Microsoft 365 on Windows, and we ran it in Excel 2021. Excel for Mac can refresh a folder query but can't create one.

Can I merge Excel files on a Mac?

Excel for Mac's Edit > Sheet > Move or Copy Sheet copies sheets between open workbooks, and that's the practical route on a Mac. Kutools for Excel, Excel Merger PRO and Spreadsheet Combiner are all Windows only.

Can I merge Excel files without Excel installed?

Excel Merger PRO and Spreadsheet Combiner both merge spreadsheet files without Excel or Office on the PC. Kutools for Excel is an Excel add-in, so it needs Excel 2007 or later.

Can I merge password-protected Excel files?

Kutools for Excel's Combine wizard has a Password button where you store each workbook's password so it opens during the merge. With the free methods, open each protected file yourself first.

Will the merged sheet update when the source files change?

A From Folder query updates when you select Refresh All, including new files added to the folder. Kutools for Excel can paste links to the source data, so changed values flow through, but new files need another run. The stand-alone tools make a one-time copy.

Can I merge CSV files and Excel files together?

Spreadsheet Combiner, Excel Merger PRO and Kutools for Excel all accept CSV files alongside Excel workbooks in one merge. From Folder works best with one file type per folder, so filter by extension in Transform Data if the folder is mixed.