How to merge multiple shapefile layers into one big shapefile layer

In QGIS, there are two common ways to merge multiple vector layers into one big vector shapefile layer. Namely:-

1) Using "Merge Vector Layers"
2) Using MMQGIS Plugin

I will only talk about the first option, since it is the default option made available in QGIS. For the second option, you will have to install the MMQGIS Plugin accordingly.

Merging multiple vector layers using "Merge Vector Layers"

This function is available under the menu Vector | Data management tool. You can merge all files in the input directory or select specific files in the input directory.

This algorithm combines two vector layer of the same geometry type into a single one. If attributes tables are different, the attribute table of the resulting layer will contain the attributes from both input layers.

The same applies as for MMQGIS Plugin: merged layers must all be of the same geometry type. Also, if the source layers have different attributes fields, the merged file will contain all fields, but with NULL values inserted when a source layer does not have a specific field.

Thanks for following.