Merge Add-in for Excel 2016 or higher for the Mac

Briefly! RDBMerge is a user friendly way to Merge Data from Multiple Excel workbooks into a Summary Workbook.

Download add-in

rdbmerge
RDBMerge for Excel 2016 or higher for the Mac, version 3.1
File date : 16-Dec-2020

  • Open Excel
  • Use Tools>Excel Add-ins... in the menu to open the Add-ins dialog
  • Use the Browse button to select the add-in and choose Open
  • Press OK
  • Done

Note: If you store the Add-in in the Add-ins folder (the best place) it will be automatic in your Add-ins dialog list, read the information on this page if you want to know how to do this : Install an Excel Add-In in Excel for Mac

You can find a button named RDBMerge Add-in to open the add-in on the Data tab on the Ribbon. Important : "Enable all macros" in Excel>Preferences>Security if you want to merge files that contain VBA code. There is a bug in Mac Excel that not trust if a installed add-in in Excel for the Mac opens other workbooks with code like this merge add-in does, and I not think you like to click on allow in the security warning dialog that pop up for every file you want to merge. Be aware that if you uncheck this checkbox that it always open files with code without a warning.

Note: the location of the files are important in Mac Excel because of Apple’s sandbox requirements, read this page and use a folder in your Office folder to avoid problems.
Problems with Apple’s sandbox requirements

How to use the RDBMerge Add-in Step by step


Folder Location:
In the folder location section click on the Browse button and select the folder with the files you want to merge. After you do that you see the path returned in the UserForm. You can also set the level of subfolders in the dropdown (max of 9)

Which Files:
In the section “Which Files” select the type of files in the dropdown that you want to merge. If you use the first option "XL?" it will merge all type of Excel files (xls, xlsx, xlsm, xlsb). But you can also only merge files with a specific extension in the folder. By default the option to merge all files in the folder is selected but you can also use the option to filter on the file names or to select the files you want to merge.

Which worksheet(s):
In this section you have the option to choose the worksheet by index or name. If you use the index 1 it will use the first worksheet in each file, you not have to know the worksheet name this way. You can also merge data from all worksheets or use the filter option to filter on the worksheet names.

Which range:
You have the option to merge a fixed range (can be more than one area). Click on the Tips button for more information. Or use the First cell ? till last cell on worksheet option, you can change the start cell. Use A2 for example if you not want to copy your header each time.


Different options:
Before we press on the Merge button we have a few options here that you can change.

The Add file name checkbox will add the file name or file and sheet name before or above your data. You can use it for example to filter the Summary sheet for the data from a certain file.

To avoid problems with formulas I suggest you always check Paste as values.

If your workbooks have links to other workbooks use the UpdateLinks option to update the values.

Use the Paste data next to each other option if you want paste the data from each file next to each other instead of below each other. If you set your fixed range for example to A1:A100 and check this check box it will use one column for each file in the combine sheet. If your range have two columns it will use two columns for each file in the combine sheet.

If your workbooks have an Open password you can fill in the open/modify password in the two text boxes, it is no problem if there are also workbooks with no password in the folder.


Click on the Merge button:
When you click on the Merge button it will create a new workbook for you with two worksheets:

Combine Sheet with all the data
Log Sheet with copy/paste and error information

Note: if you get a MsgBox that tell you that it not found any files try to browse again to the same folder and try the Merge button again, Apple's sandbox can be the problem.

Then it is up to you if you want to save this workbook.

You see it is very easy to work with this add-in, testing all options with a few files in a test folder is the best way to get familiar with this add-in. If you have problems or have suggestions let me know and I try to help you.
23/03/2024
Web design by Will Woodgate