How To Detect Which Cells Are Merged In Google Sheets - google-sheets

Question

While trying to remove duplicate phone numbers from a relatively large list I recently combined, Google Sheets presented me with this error message:
There was a problem.
Your selection contains a merged cell. To remove duplicates, all cells must contain the same number of rows and columns.
The formula I used to test and try to expose merged cells within Google sheets was:
=if(columns(A2:F2) = 6, "True", "False")
But this always returned true Because even though the cells may be merged they are still considered individual cells.
I am wondering if there is an easy way to discover and sort out these cells in Google Sheets. Excel used to have a very simple way of doing it but has since removed the functionality.
Any ideas?

Answer 1

if you have such an option you can use Conditional Formatting to check for merged cells like:
=MOD(COLUMN(),2)=0
where you can immediately spot merged cells where the color pattern is interrupted
in the same manner you can use this formula for rows:
=MOD(ROW(),2)=0
or you can play with scripts to find merged cells: https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/36753230

Answer 2

Custom formula
function isMerge(sheetName, a1Notation) {
var range = SpreadsheetApp.getActive().getSheetByName(sheetName).getRange(a1Notation);
var merges = [];
for (var i = 0; i < range.getHeight(); i++)
{
var merge = range.offset(i, 0, 1, 1).isPartOfMerge();
merges.push(merge);
}
return merges;
}
Usage:
Paste the code above to the Editor: menu Tools > Script Editor...
Save Project
Use as usual formula: =isMerge(sheetName, a1Notation)

Answer 3

you can copy and paste the column somewhere, for example creating an extra column next to it.
You can then create a new column. You can run increasing numbers in both and subtract each cell from each other. If the result is not 0, then cells have been merged.

Answer 4

I was facing a similar issue and found a hack - ctrl+shift+down button to select all the data in the column. This automatically became a selection of two columns (the one I want to select plus the one next to it). I then worked from the bottom of the list up, using ctrl+shift+down button to select all data in that column, starting from the bottom 20 entries - with this, only data in that column was select - it didn't automatically include the next row too, which meant that the merged cell was not within these cells.
I repeated this step, going up the rows ~50 rows at a time, until the selection suddenly became two rows instead, when I was actually just selecting a single row's data. This meant that the merged cell was somewhere in the last 50 rows, and I just went down the list within that selection to check for the merged cell.