ARRAYTOTEXT Function in Excel: A Whole Range as One Text

ARRAYTOTEXT Function in Excel: A Whole Range as One Text featured illustration

πŸ“Ž This article includes 1 downloadable practice file ↓

⏱ 2 min readUpdated 12 October 2026

TextLevel: ExpertAvailable in: Excel 365 / 2021+

In this article
  1. Syntax
  2. Examples
  3. Example 1
  4. ARRAYTOTEXT in practice
  5. Where you will use it
  6. Worked example
  7. Mistakes people make
  8. Related functions
  9. Continue learning

ARRAYTOTEXT turns a range into a single text string. Strict mode gives array-constant syntax you can paste into another formula.

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Syntax

=ARRAYTOTEXT(array, [format])
Argument What it means
format 0 = comma list, 1 = {“a”;”b”} style.

Examples

Example 1

=ARRAYTOTEXT(A2:A6, 1)

{“North”;”South”;”East”;”West”;”Central”}

ARRAYTOTEXT in practice

Where you will use it

  • Show an array result in one cell for debugging
  • Log spilled results
  • Pass arrays as text to other systems

Worked example

FormatFormulaResult
0=ARRAYTOTEXT({"Pune",42;"Delhi",57},A2)Pune, 42, Delhi, 57
1=ARRAYTOTEXT({"Pune",42;"Delhi",57},A3){"Pune",42;"Delhi",57}
0=ARRAYTOTEXT({"Pune",42;"Delhi",57},A4)Pune, 42, Delhi, 57

Results calculated in Excel.

Mistakes people make

MistakeWhat to do instead
Format 1 is strictStrict format adds braces and quotes, useful to paste back as an array
Long arraysText limit 32,767 characters

TEXTJOIN Β· VALUETOTEXT

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