Merge cells for headings

The presentation worksheet needs a clean title band at the top. Merge cells across columns A to H on row 1 and center the project name and date so the header reads as one line on large screens and when printed; then check the sheet behaves when filters are applied and when columns are resized.

Before I finalize the report, make the heading obvious and resilient: merge the title cells across A to H, center the text, but also add a duplicate unmerged short title in cell A2 for accessibility and for people who export to systems that strip merges. Flag merged ranges that will break table sorting or cause import failures for the BI team.

I merged the top row for a clean title and when an analyst tried to sort the table the range shifted and data misaligned. I’m not sure if the merge or the frozen panes caused it. What should I do next to keep the visual title but avoid breaking sorts and exports? Offer the safest layout change and a fallback for people who need to sort the data.

Across many shared files, merged headers make sorting and exports fail and cost us cleanup time. I want a new habit that keeps reports readable without merges. Recommend a consistent approach to titles and table headers that works for on-screen review, printing, and downstream import, and give a migration checklist to fix existing sheets without breaking links.