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How do you merge Excel files on a Mac?

By Kayabyte · Last updated 1 November 2026

To merge Excel files on a Mac, copy each sheet into one workbook with Move or Copy Sheet, or, if you want the rows stacked into one sheet, copy and paste or use Power Query’s Append. Excel for Mac has no built-in “merge workbooks” command according to Microsoft’s pages (read 1 November 2026), so with more than a handful of files it turns into a lot of clicking. A Mac app such as Gridhand does it for a whole folder in one run.

Method 1: Move or Copy Sheet (best for a few files)

  1. Open the workbook that will hold everything, and open the workbook you want to take sheets from. Both must be open.
  2. In the source workbook, Control-click (or right-click) the sheet tab and choose Move or Copy.
  3. Under “To book”, pick the destination workbook. Tick “Create a copy” so the source is untouched, choose where the sheet goes, and click OK.
  4. Repeat for every sheet and every file. To take several sheets at once, Shift-click or Command-click their tabs first.
  5. Rename tabs that ended up as “Sheet1 (2)” and check formulas that referred to other workbooks.

This keeps formatting, but links to the source file are created for formulas that point at other sheets, and every file has to be opened by hand.

Method 2: Power Query on Mac

Power Query is in Microsoft 365 for Mac (Data, Get Data) and Append Queries combines files you import one by one. Whether a whole-folder import is offered depends on your version, so check your Get Data menu. Details and sources: Power Query on a Mac and merging files.

Method 3: a macro

A macro can merge a folder, but one written for Windows may need changes before it runs on a Mac (file paths and Windows-only objects such as FileSystemObject), and you have to test and maintain it.

With Gridhand

Gridhand opens a folder of workbooks, previews the result and writes one merged workbook. Every selected sheet becomes a tab, with its cell formatting, widths, merged cells, formulas, tables, charts, images and notes. Tab names follow a rule you pick (sheet name, “file - sheet”, or file name), are cut to Excel’s 31 characters, and repeated names get (2); formulas and charts that pointed at a renamed tab are rewritten. Your originals are never modified.

What does not come along is listed in the report: pivot tables, slicers, links to other workbooks (they become their last values), threaded comments (the note text stays), form controls and macros.

Gridhand Merge on a Mac: three sales workbooks added, with a preview of the six tabs the merged workbook will contain

Steps with Gridhand

  1. Open Gridhand and drop the workbooks, or a folder, into the window.
  2. Choose Merge, then “Into one workbook (one tab per sheet)”.
  3. Pick the tab-naming rule and, under “Choose which sheets to take”, leave out any sheets you don’t want.
  4. Check the preview, choose an output folder and press Run.
  5. Read the report for anything that was left out.

The free version merges up to 3 files per run; Gridhand Pro (USD 49 once) removes the limit. Download Gridhand · Pricing

Questions

Can Excel for Mac merge workbooks automatically? Not with a single command, as far as Microsoft’s pages show. You can copy sheets between open workbooks, append queries in Power Query, or run a macro, but there is no built-in merge for a folder of files.

Does merging keep the formatting? Move or Copy Sheet does. Gridhand does as well, and it lists what cannot be carried over, such as pivot tables and macros.

What happens to formulas that point at other files? In a merged workbook made by Gridhand, links to other workbooks become their last saved values and the report says so.

What if two files have a sheet with the same name? Gridhand adds (2) to the repeated name, or you can use the “file - sheet” rule so every tab name is unique.

Microsoft and Excel are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. Gridhand is made by Kayabyte and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Microsoft.