Join vs. stack: two ways to combine Excel files

Use a join when rows describe the same entities

Choose a join when two files contain different facts about the same customers, products, orders, employees, or accounts. The match column tells the tool which records belong together.

Read the complete common-column merge guide for examples of Matches Only, Master + Enrich, and Keep Everything.

Use Stack Rows for recurring files

Choose Stack Rows when the files contain the same kind of records for different dates, locations, teams, or systems. MergeStudio aligns values by column header and leaves a blank when one source does not contain a particular column.

How to combine Excel files with the same columns

1. Open the Excel and CSV merge tool and add the reports you want to append.
2. Select at least two sheets, including tabs from a single workbook if needed.
3. Choose Stack Rows. You do not need to select a matching column.
4. Review the selected output columns and put them in your preferred order.
5. Merge, check the preview and download one Excel workbook.

For example, a January sheet with 100 data rows and a February sheet with 80 produces 180 stacked rows. The header is written once in the output. Stacking preserves repeated records; it does not remove duplicates.

What if the column names are different?

Stacking lines up columns by their header names after trimming surrounding spaces. Capitalization and wording still matter: Email and email become separate columns, as do Customer ID and Client ID. Rename equivalent headers before stacking if their values should share one column.

For related records with different key names, use a join by a common column instead. The CSV merge guide covers CSV inputs and the XLSX download format.

Quick decision rule