1 Highlight or select a range of cells. 2  Right-click on the highlighted cells and select Format Cells.... 3  Click the Alignment tab and place a checkmark in the checkbox labeled Merge cells.  To merge a group of cells and center the text, you can also use the Merge and Center button on the Excel tool bar. Again, this will only preserve the text in the upper-leftmost cell. Highlight or select a range of cells.