How to Use Notion Offline Mode
This guide shows how to enable Notion offline mode, what works, what doesn’t, and how to avoid sync issues.
How to Merge Cells in Notion
This guide shows how to simulate merged cells in Notion, explore practical techniques, and improve table readability.
Notion has grown into more than just a note-taking app; it’s now the place where people map out projects, track tasks, and shape ideas into structured systems. Yet, as much as it feels like an all-in-one workspace, there are times when you hit a roadblock with features that feel natural in other tools, like merging cells inside a table.
For anyone coming from Excel or Google Sheets, that gap stands out right away. Still, Notion’s strength has always been about flexibility, and with the right approach, you can recreate the same effect without losing the simplicity of the platform.
In this guide, I’ll walk through the different ways you can simulate merged cells, share practical techniques that actually work inside Notion’s design, and show you how to make your tables more polished and functional at the same time.
Is It Possible to Merge Cells in Notion?
The short answer is NO. Notion does not currently support merging cells in the same way you can in Excel or Google Sheets. This limitation isn’t accidental; it comes from how Notion is designed.
Unlike spreadsheets, which prioritize flexible formatting, Notion tables are built on a database model. That means each cell is treated as a standalone unit tied to its property type, ensuring the structure stays consistent across rows and columns.
While this approach protects data integrity and avoids the messy complications that come with merged cells in spreadsheets, it also means you lose certain formatting freedoms.
Instead of visually spanning data across multiple cells, Notion forces you to work within its fixed structure, which can feel restrictive when you want a table to look polished or presentation-ready.
When You Might Need Merged Cells in Notion
Even though Notion doesn’t offer merging, many users find themselves wanting it for several reasons:
- Cleaner headers: A common scenario is when you want a single label, such as “Q1 Sales Data”, to stretch across multiple product or region columns. It creates a neat hierarchy and makes your table easier to scan.
- Project timelines: For multi-day events or extended tasks, merged cells would normally allow a row to represent a single phase spanning multiple columns. Without it, timelines can feel fragmented.
- Improved readability: Reports, summaries, and presentations often look better when sections are visually grouped. Merged cells help highlight key data points or act as dividers for different categories.
- Financial or executive summaries: Leaders often prefer simple, digestible tables. For instance, showing Total Revenue across categories in one merged row makes a financial snapshot far easier to understand.
These use cases explain why the request comes up so often among Notion users, even if the platform’s database-first approach makes it impossible natively.
Creative Workarounds to Simulate Merged Cells
Since true merging isn’t available, the next best option is to simulate the effect. Here are practical techniques that can achieve a similar result:
- Toggle blocks for grouping
Use toggles above a table to act as section headers, such as “Q1 Sales Summary”. This keeps information collapsible, tidy, and visually distinct.
- Dividers for separation
Place horizontal dividers between sections of a table to create clear visual breaks. This works well when segmenting large datasets.
- Multi-column layouts outside tables
Drag and drop blocks next to each other to display related data side by side, for example Marketing Performance in one column and Sales Data in another. This creates a merged-cell illusion without breaking Notion’s database structure.
- Formatting tricks
Bold text, centered alignment, or creative spacing can simulate the effect of a merged header. Titles like “Q1 Revenue Summary” centered across multiple columns give a sense of cohesion.
- Callout blocks and colors
Callouts with labels such as “Quarterly Highlights” or background colors applied to certain rows can separate sections visually, much like merged cells would.
- Manual combination
In small cases, you can manually combine information into a single cell or row, then use formatting (bold text, color, spacing) to make it stand apart. It’s more work, but useful for dashboards or client-facing reports.
Tips to Improve Table Readability Without Merging
Even without merged cells, your tables don’t have to look cluttered. A few thoughtful design tweaks can make a big difference:
- Build a visual hierarchy: Use bold headers, consistent spacing, and clear section labels so your table guides the reader naturally.
- Use color coding: Background colors for rows or columns help group related data and make it easier to scan at a glance.
- Leverage database features: Tags, relations, and categories often organize data better than trying to merge cells visually.
- Keep it simple: Instead of overcomplicating layouts, aim for clarity with clean headers and logical data flow.
- Explore alternate views: Sometimes a table isn’t the best solution. Notion’s board, gallery, or timeline views can represent the same data more effectively.
- Adjust column width: Widen or shrink columns to balance white space. This avoids the cramped look that often makes people want to merge cells in the first place.
Final Thoughts
Merging cells in Notion may not be possible in the traditional sense, but that doesn’t mean your tables have to look messy or incomplete.
By using toggles, dividers, callouts, formatting tricks, and multi-column layouts, you can recreate the same effect and keep your tables clean, organized, and presentation-ready. With a bit of creativity, Notion’s database structure still gives you plenty of flexibility to design tables that are both functional and visually appealing.
If you’re looking to go beyond workarounds and want more polished design control for your Notion pages, you can check out Bullet.so. With Bullet, you can turn your Notion into a fully customizable website, giving you the freedom to structure and style content the way you need.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can you merge cells in Notion?
No, Notion does not allow traditional cell merging like Excel or Google Sheets. Each cell functions independently within its database structure to maintain consistent data organization.
- Why can’t I merge cells in Notion?
Notion is built as a database-first platform, which prioritizes structured, consistent data over flexible spreadsheet-style formatting. Merging cells would break the database logic and could cause inconsistencies across rows and columns.
- Is there a plugin or tool to merge cells in Notion?
Notion doesn’t support plugins for merging cells directly. For advanced formatting, you can embed external tools like Google Sheets or Airtable.
- How can I make Notion tables more readable without merging cells?
Use color coding, proper heading hierarchy, spacing, database properties (tags, relations, categories), and alternative views such as board, gallery, or timeline to organize information effectively.
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