Is there a way to hide the comma in "not-yet-used" cells?

Smith, Joe
Jones, Bill
,
,
,

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Answer from Richard Rost:

I'm assuming you're concatenating your First Name and Last Name like this:

=A1&", "&B1

In this case, just add a little IF statement with ISBLANK to your formula:

=IF(ISBLANK(A1),"",A1&", "&B1)

This says, "If A1 is blank then put nothing in this cell, otherwise put the result here." Of course, if you want to check BOTH cells, then you have a little more work to do, but this will get you started.

You can use the IF function to have Excel place a value in a cell based on one or more conditions or values in other cells.

See this FREE tutorial on my web site for more information on how to use the IF function:

http://www.599cd.com/tips/excel/misc/if-function-sales-tax.asp?key=BlFAlEx