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UPPER, LOWER, LEN, CONCAT, and TEXTJOIN

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1 Introduction & Exam Overview

About the MO-210 Exam Performance-Based Exam Strategy

2 Import Data & Navigate Workbooks

Import Data from Text Files Import Data from Online Sources Search and Navigate to Named Cells, Ranges, Elements Insert and Remove Hyperlinks

3 Format Worksheets, Views & Collaboration

Page Setup, Headers, Footers, Row Height & Column Width Quick Access Toolbar, Views, Freeze Panes, Properties, Display Formulas Print Area, Export Formats, Print Settings, Inspect, Comments & Notes

4 Manipulate Data in Worksheets

Paste Special and Auto Fill Insert and Delete Rows, Columns, and Cells Generate Numeric Data with RANDBETWEEN and SEQUENCE

5 Format Cells and Ranges

Merge, Alignment, Orientation, Indentation, Wrap Text Number Formats, Format Painter, Format Cells Dialog Cell Styles, Clear Formatting, Group Worksheets

6 Named Ranges & Visual Summaries

Define and Reference Named Ranges Insert and Manage Sparklines Apply and Remove Conditional Formatting

7 Create and Format Tables

Create Excel Tables from Cell Ranges Apply Table Styles and Convert Tables to Ranges Add or Remove Table Rows and Columns

8 Table Options, Filter & Sort

Configure Table Style Options Insert and Configure Total Rows Filter Table Records Sort Data by Multiple Columns

9 Formula References

Relative, Absolute, and Mixed References Structured References in Tables

10 Calculate and Transform Data

SUM, AVERAGE, MIN, and MAX COUNT, COUNTA, and COUNTBLANK Conditional Operations with IF SORT and UNIQUE Functions

11 Format and Modify Text

LEFT, RIGHT, and MID UPPER, LOWER, LEN, CONCAT, and TEXTJOIN

12 Create Charts

Create Charts from Data Create Chart Sheets

13 Modify and Format Charts

Add Data Series and Switch Rows/Columns Add and Modify Chart Elements Chart Layouts, Styles, and Alternative Text

UPPER, LOWER, LEN, CONCAT, and TEXTJOIN

Key Takeaways Explain This Topic AI

UPPER(text) converts all letters to uppercase; LOWER(text) converts all letters to lowercase—digits and most symbols stay unchanged

LEN(text) returns the count of characters in a string, including spaces and punctuation

CONCAT joins two or more text values in order with no delimiter of its own; nest characters like " " or "-" between arguments when you need separators

TEXTJOIN(delimiter, ignore_empty, text1, …) inserts a delimiter between values and can skip blank cells when ignore_empty is TRUE

Prefer CONCAT or TEXTJOIN on modern Microsoft 365 workbooks; CONCATENATE is a legacy compatibility function with the same join idea but older syntax

Last updated: August 2026

Case, length, and joining text on MO-210

The second half of Format and modify text on Exam MO-210 focuses on normalizing case, measuring length, and building combined strings. You will use UPPER , LOWER , LEN , CONCAT , and TEXTJOIN . Projects may ask you to standardize product names, build display labels from first and last names, or assemble addresses from separate city, state, and ZIP columns. As with extraction functions, graders evaluate the formula, so the right function with the right arguments matters more than a one-off typed result.

UPPER and LOWER — standardize letter case

Syntax:

UPPER(text) — returns the string with all letters converted to uppercase .

LOWER(text) — returns the string with all letters converted to lowercase .

Digits, spaces, and most punctuation are unchanged. Only A–Z / a–z style letters flip case.

Worked example: normalize a status column

  • A (Status entered) B (Upper) C (Lower)
  • 1 Status Upper Lower
  • 2 pending =UPPER(A2) → PENDING =LOWER(A2) → pending
  • 3 On Hold fill → ON HOLD fill → on hold
  • 4 CLOSED fill → CLOSED fill → closed

Use UPPER when a task wants codes or statuses in all caps for matching or display. Use LOWER when you need a consistent lowercase key. MO-210 may also ask you to fill a helper column with =UPPER(A2) so later filters or lookups see uniform values.

Case does not trim spaces

=UPPER(" open ") returns OPEN with the same leading and trailing spaces. Case functions do not remove spaces; they only change letter case. If a prompt mentions cleaning spaces, that is a different skill—do not assume UPPER/LOWER will tidy the string.

  • LEN — count characters
  • Syntax: LEN(text)

LEN returns how many characters are in the string, including letters, digits, spaces, and symbols.

Worked example: validate ID length

  • A (Code) B (Length)
  • 1 Code Length
  • 2 NW120845 =LEN(A2) → 8
  • 3 SE05 fill → 4
  • 4 NW 120845 fill → 9

Row 4 includes a space, so the length is 9, not 8. On the exam, LEN is useful when a task asks you to show how many characters are in each cell, or when you combine LEN with LEFT/RIGHT (for example =RIGHT(A2,LEN(A2)-3) in more advanced sheets). Associate-level prompts more often ask for a straight =LEN(A2) in a helper column.

Empty cells and LEN

=LEN(A2) when A2 is truly empty returns 0 . A cell that looks blank but contains a space returns 1 . That distinction matters if you are checking whether a field was filled.

  • CONCAT — join values in order
  • Syntax: CONCAT(text1, [text2], …)

CONCAT stitches its arguments together left to right with no delimiter unless you supply one yourself as a text argument.

Worked example: full name from parts

  • A (First) B (Last) C (Full Name)
  • 1 First Last Full Name
  • 2 Ava Chen =CONCAT(A2," ",B2) → Ava Chen
  • 3 Jordan Lee fill → Jordan Lee

Notice the explicit " " between first and last. =CONCAT(A2,B2) would return AvaChen with no space—a common mistake when candidates forget the separator.

Worked example: build a product label

  • A (Category) B (Number) C (Label)
  • 2 HW 88421 =CONCAT(A2,"-",B2) → HW-88421

You can concatenate cell references, typed strings, and results of other formulas. For example =CONCAT(UPPER(A2),"-",B2) forces the category to uppercase before joining.

  • TEXTJOIN — join with a delimiter and optional blanks skip
  • Syntax: TEXTJOIN(delimiter, ignore_empty, text1, [text2], …)

delimiter — the character(s) inserted between values (comma, space, hyphen, and so on).

ignore_empty — TRUE skips blank arguments/cells; FALSE still inserts delimiters for blanks (which can create double commas or trailing separators).

text1, … — individual cells, ranges, or strings to join.

Worked example: city, state, ZIP

  • A (City) B (State) C (ZIP) D (Address line)
  • 2 Austin TX 78701 =TEXTJOIN(", ",TRUE,A2,B2,C2) → Austin, TX, 78701
  • 3 Denver CO =TEXTJOIN(", ",TRUE,A3,B3,C3) → Denver, CO

With ignore_empty set to TRUE , the missing ZIP in row 3 does not leave a dangling comma. If you used FALSE instead, row 3 could become Denver, CO, with an extra trailing delimiter pattern depending on how blanks are treated—on MO-210, when the prompt says to ignore empty cells, choose TRUE .

Worked example: join a range with hyphens

Cells A2:C2 hold NW , 12 , and 0845 . Formula:

=TEXTJOIN("-",TRUE,A2:C2) → NW-12-0845

TEXTJOIN accepts a range as one argument, which is often cleaner than listing every cell. CONCAT can also accept ranges in Microsoft 365, but it still will not insert delimiters between range items—you would get NW120845 unless you add separators another way. When the task wants separators between many fields, TEXTJOIN is the direct tool.

CONCAT vs TEXTJOIN vs legacy CONCATENATE

Function Delimiter Empty cells Notes for MO-210

CONCAT None unless you type one between arguments Includes empty text as nothing (no auto-skip logic like TEXTJOIN’s flag) Modern replacement for simple joins

TEXTJOIN First argument applies between all values Controlled by ignore_empty TRUE/FALSE Best for lists, addresses, multi-field labels

CONCATENATE None unless typed between arguments Same join idea as CONCAT Legacy compatibility function; still works, but Microsoft 365 materials emphasize CONCAT and TEXTJOIN

Brief contrast for the exam: CONCATENATE(A2," ",B2) and CONCAT(A2," ",B2) produce the same Ava Chen style result. Prefer CONCAT in new formulas unless a legacy workbook already uses CONCATENATE. Choose TEXTJOIN when you need one delimiter repeated between many values or when you must skip blanks with ignore_empty .

Side-by-side on the same data

First Ava , last Chen , middle name cell blank:

=CONCAT(A2," ",B2," ",C2) → Ava Chen (extra space where the middle name is blank).

=TEXTJOIN(" ",TRUE,A2,B2,C2) → Ava Chen (blank middle name skipped).

That ignore-empty behavior is the practical reason TEXTJOIN appears in Domain 4 tasks involving incomplete name or address parts.

Putting it together on a project sheet

A typical MO-210 scenario might give columns for first name, last name, and department code, then ask you to:

Create a lowercase email local-part with =LOWER(CONCAT(A2,".",B2)) .

Build a badge label with =TEXTJOIN("-",TRUE,UPPER(C2),A2,B2) .

Report character counts with =LEN(D2) on the finished label.

Work formula-first: enter the correct function in row 2, confirm the sample result, then fill down. Keep delimiters as quoted text ( " " , "-" , ", " ). Spread answer indices across quizzes in practice so you do not memorize letter positions—focus on what each argument does.

Master UPPER, LOWER, LEN, CONCAT, and TEXTJOIN—and know when TEXTJOIN’s delimiter and ignore_empty beat a manual CONCAT—and you complete the Format and modify text skill area for MO-210.