How to Add Text to The Beginning and End of Cell in Excel? (The Easiest Ways)

Excel is used for organizing data in a spreadsheet format, but sometimes the data is not organized perfectly even when present in the spreadsheets. Sometimes, you may want to add more text in a cell; doing that manually is not the best choice. Using the easy ways to add text to the beginning and end of cell in Excel, you can achieve the same within much less time and effort.

Part 1. How to Add Text to the Beginning of Cell in Excel?

If you want to add any text in a cell before its original content starts, use another column where that data and the text appear combined. Then you can paste the column with new data instead of the original column, and your work will be done. To do this, there are 2 very easy methods. Excel has a feature you can use, but using a third-party tool can be even easier.

1. Via Official Method

Say that you have received an Excel file with columns of data that need some text before the column's content starts. The easiest way to do that is by using the CONCAT function. It is a function specifically designed to combine two values in a specific manner and display them in a single cell.

While it is designed to join the values of two cells, we can combine a cell value with a specific text before it. However, this method is suitable when adding the same text at every cell's beginning. Since we will be using a function, using this method will be extremely easy with the steps below:

• Select a column other than the one that contains the original information. In the same row, select some other column and use the formula "=CONCAT("Dr. ",A1)”. Click on any other cell, and you will see its value update.

• You can add the same text at the beginning of each cell in the column by double-clicking on the Excel fill handle. Alternatively, you may use the hold and drag method for specific cells.

2. Via Third-Party Tool

The previous method, where you had to use a formula, may seem a little complicated for you to use. So, an even better solution for you is to use a third-party tool. In this case, the tool we will be using is Kutools. It has a text-adding tool for Excel that you can download on your PC and easily add any data in any cell's beginning.

The startup process may feel a little complicated when you download it, but once you download it, Excel will recognize it, and then you can follow the steps as follows:

• Make sure that you download Kutools on your computer. Open the Excel document in which you want to add text. Select the desired column and locate the Kutools tab in the top ribbon menu. Click on it and click Text to open a dropdown menu. There you will see multiple options, but, in this case, we will select Add Text.

• Type the text in the given field and select before the first character in the position option. You can also verify the results in the window on the right side. Finish the process by clicking Apply or OK, and you will see the values appearing instantly.

Also Read: Top 20 Task Tracker Excel Templates to Free Download

Part 2. How to Add Text to End of Cell in Excel?

Say you have a mark sheet of students with obtained marks for each text and the total percentage achieved, but the percentage column does not have the % sign. You can add that manually, but depending on the number of rows, that can take a very long time. That’s where the methods discussed below will help you to do the same with only a few clicks.

1. Via Official Method

If you are looking for the official method to enter any text after the content that is originally present in a cell, then using the CONCAT function again will be your best choice. It is the easiest method that is available in Excel by default. The best part about it is that using it is very easy. You don’t need to get into any complexities apart from inserting the formula correctly; it will instantly get the job done for you.

So, if you want to use this formula, follow the steps below for assistance.

• Go to the first row of data in any empty column and type the function “=CONCAT("E3,“ %”)." It is an Excel formula that will combine the two values that you put. So, if you want any spaces or other characters, leave them correctly. For instance, we left a space before the percentage sign.

• To get the percentage sign after every cell's value, you can hold the filler and drag it until you have covered the rows you want to duplicate this formula. Now you will have the % sign after every value of the column. You can also replace the original values with this new content if needed.

2. Via Third-Party Tool

Using the official method may seem difficult if you have never previously used the function and formula option in Excel. That’s where the third-party tool will make things extremely easy for you. Instead of writing the formula, this Kutools text-adding tool will provide a GUI experience. So, when you want to easily add text, install the tool, and then you can use the following steps:

• First of all, please download Kutools on your computer, then, select the column in Excel where you need text to be added after the cell's original content. Once selected, you need to locate the Kutools tab in the ribbon menu present on top. Clicking on it will reveal multiple options from where you need to locate the Text dropdown menu. Open it and select Add Text to proceed.

• Type the required text in the Text field, and in the position option, select after the last character. You need to be careful about adding a space before the text you type as the characters may join; otherwise, ruining the content. If the content preview is correct, click OK, and the values will instantly update.

Part 3. Bonus Tip: How to Add Text in Excel After Converting Excel to PDF?

Say that you must prepare an Excel spreadsheet and export it in PDF format. You did that, and afterward, you learned that you missed a tiny part of the information after you incorporated all the information from Excel and other sources in PDF format. If you have to update the Excel file and do all that work again, that will be inefficient and time-consuming.

So, the most effective solution you can try is using a PDF editor, and UPDF is the best choice. It is a PDF viewing and editing tool that can edit any data in a PDF document. Download UPDF to explore the function. With UPDF, you get all types of PDF editing features, including the following:

• Editing texts/images
• Add annotations to PDF
• Pencil edits
• OCR
• PDF organization
• Add header and footer to PDF, etc.
• Create PDF from Excel format

The best thing about UPDF is that using it is extremely easy. So, if you want to add any text in Excel after converting it to a PDF document, here is how you can do it:

• Download UPDF by clicking the "Free Download" button below. Open UPDF by double-clicking on the UPDF icon. Now you need to open the PDF document that contains Excel data. That can be done by dragging that file in UPDF or using the open file feature to browse through your PC.

• When your document opens, go to the left menu and locate the Edit PDF option. Click on it, and then from the top menu, click on Text. Now you can double-click on any text, and the text editing cursor will appear. Arrange it in the right spot and edit any text that you want. In this example, we added the Percentage sign.

When you finish all the edits or additions, you can press Control + S buttons, and the existing PDF file will save all the changes you made.

Final Words

Sometimes we receive data in Excel spreadsheets that do not contain all the information we need to present. For example, hospital software containing a list of doctors may not mention Dr. before every name. However, when presenting that data in front of someone else, you may need to add Dr to make comprehension easier. Doing that manually is not easy or efficient, so we shared the easiest ways to add text to the beginning and end of cells in Excel.

By using these methods, the process will become almost effortless for you. However, if you receive the spreadsheet data in PDF form, these methods won't work. That's where UPDF will be the best tool to use. Instead of going back to Excel, you can easily add text in PDF files with UPDF. Join our UPDF family! Get the app today and upgrade to UPDF Pro.