How to split cells in Excel: Text to Columns, Flash Fill and formulas

How do you split a cell in Excel? By using the Text to Columns feature, Flash Fill, formulas or Split Text tool. This tutorial outlines all the options to help you choose the technique best suited for your particular task.

Generally, you may need to divide cells in Excel in two cases. Most often, when you import data from some external source where all information is in one column while you want it in separate columns. Or, you may want to separate cells in an existing table for better filtering, sorting or a detailed analysis.

How to split cells in Excel using Text to Columns

The Text to Columns feature comes in really handy when you need to split cell contents into two or more cells. It allows separating text strings by a certain delimiter such as comma, semicolon or space as well as splitting strings of a fixed length. Let's see how each scenario works.

How to separate cells in Excel by delimiter

Suppose, you have a list of participants where a participant name, country and expected arrival date are all in the same column: Data in one cell to be split into several cells

What we want is to separate data in one cell into several cells such as First Name, Last Name, Country, Arrival Date and Status. To have it done, perform the following steps:

  1. If you want to place the results in the middle of your table, start by inserting a new column(s) to avoid overwriting your existing data. In this example, we have inserted 3 new columns like shown in the screenshot below: Insert a new column(s) to avoid overwriting your existing data. If you don't have any data next to the column you want to separate, skip this step.
  2. Select the cells you want to divide, navigate to the Data tab > Data Tools group, and click the Text to Columns button. Click Text to Columns on the Data tab.
  3. In the first step of the Convert Text to Columns wizard, you choose how to split cells - by delimiter or width.In our case, the cell contents are separated with spaces and commas, so we select Delimited, and click Next. Choose how to separate cells - by delimiter or width.
  4. In the next step, you specify the delimiters and, optionally, text qualifier.You can choose one or more predefined delimiters as well as type your own one in the Other box. In this example, we select Space and Comma: Choose one or more predefined delimiters or type your own one.

    Tips:

    • Treat consecutive delimiters as one. Be sure to select this option when your data may contain two or more delimiters in a row, e.g. when there are a few consecutive spaces between words or the data is separate by a comma and a space, like "Smith, John".
    • Specifying the text qualifier. Use this option when some text is enclosed in single or double quotes, and you'd like such portions of text to be inseparable. For example, if you choose a comma (,) as the delimiter and a quotation mark (") as the text qualifier, then any words enclosed in double quotes, e.g. "California, USA", will be put into one cell as California, USA. If you select {none} as the text qualifier, then "California will be distributed into one cell (together with an opening quotation mark) and USA" into another (together with a closing mark).
    • Data preview. Before you click the Next button, it stands to reason to scroll through the Data preview section to make sure Excel has split all cells contents right.
  5. Just two more things are left for you to do - choose the data format and specify where you want to paste the resulting values:
    • Data format. By default, the General format is set for all columns, which works well in most cases. In our example, we need the Data format for the arrival dates. To change the data format for a particular column, click on that column under Data preview to select it, and then choose one of the formats under Column data format (please see the screenshot below).
    • Destination. To tell Excel where you want to output the separated data, click the Collapse Dialog icon Collapse Dialog button next to the Destination box and select the top-leftmost cell of the destination range, or type a cell reference directly in the box. Please be very careful with this option, and make sure there are enough empty columns right to the destination cell. Set the desired format for split cells.

    Notes:

    • If you do not want to import some column that appears in the data preview, select that column and check Do not import column (skip) radio button under Column data format.
    • It is not possible to import the split data to another spreadsheet or workbook. If you attempt to do this, you will get the invalid destination error.
  6. Finally, click the Finish button and you are done! As shown in the below screenshot, Excel has perfectly placed the contents of one cell into several cells: Data in one cell is split into several cells.

How to split text of a fixed width

This section explains how to divide a cell in Excel based on the number of characters you specify. To make things easier to understand, please consider the following example.

Supposing, you have Product IDs and Product names in one column and you want to extract the IDs into a separate column: Product IDs and Product names to be separated into 2 columns

Since all of the product IDs contain 9 characters, the Fixed width option fits perfectly for the job:

  1. Start the Convert Text to Columns wizard as explained in the above example. In the first step of the wizard, choose Fixed width and click Next. Choose Fixed width and click Next.
  2. Set the width of each column by using the Data preview section. As shown in the screenshot below, a vertical line represents a column break, and to create a new break line, you simply click at the desired position (9 characters in our case): Set the columns' widths using the data preview section. To remove the break, double-click a line; to move a break in another position, simply drag the line with the mouse.
  3. In the next step, choose the data format and destination for the split cells exactly as we did in the previous example, and click the Finish button to complete the separation.

How to separate cells Excel with Flash Fill

Beginning with Excel 2013, you can make use of the Flash Fill feature that can not only automatically populate cells with data, but also split cell contents.

Let's take a column of data from our first example and see how Excel's Flash Fill can help us split a cell in half:

  1. Insert a new column next to the column with the original data and type the desired part of the text in the first cell (participant name in this example).
  2. Type the text in a couple more cells. As soon as Excel senses a pattern, it will populate similar data into other cells automatically. In our case, it's taken 3 cells for Excel to figure out a pattern: Separate cells in Excel with Flash Fill.
  3. If you are satisfied with what you see, press the Enter key, and all the names will be copied to a separate column at once.

How to split cell in Excel with formulas

Whatever diverse information your cells may contain, a formula to split a cell in Excel boils down to finding a position of the delimiter (comma, space, etc.) and extracting a substring before, after or in-between the delimiters. Generally, you'd use SEARCH or FIND functions to determine the delimiter's location and one of the Text functions (LEFT, RIGHT or MID) to get a substring.

For example, you'd use the following formulas to split data in cell A2 separated with a comma and space (please see the screenshot below):

To extract the name in B2:

=LEFT(A2, SEARCH(",",A2)-1)

Here, the SEARCH function determines the position of a comma in A2, and you subtract 1 from the result, because the comma itself is not expected in the output. The LEFT function extracts that number of characters from the start of the string.

To extract the country in C2:

=RIGHT(A2, LEN(A2)-SEARCH(",", A2)-1)

Here, the LEN function calculates the total length of the string, from which you subtract the position of the comma returned by SEARCH. Additionally, you subtract the space character (-1). The difference goes to the 2nd argument RIGHT, so it pulls that many characters from the end of the string.

The result will look as follows: DSplit the cell content using formulas

If your delimiter is a comma with or without space, you can use the following formula to extract a substring after it (where 1000 is the maximum number of characters to pull):

=TRIM(MID(A2, SEARCH(",", A2)+1, 1000))

As you see, there is no universal formula that could handle all kinds of strings. In each particular case, you will have to work out your own solution.

The good news is that the dynamic array functions that appeared in Excel 365 make the use of many old formulas unnecessary. Instead, you can use these functions:

  • TEXTSPLIT - split strings by any delimiter that you specify.
  • TEXTBEFORE - extract text before a specific character or substring.
  • TEXTAFTER - extract text after a certain character or word.

For more formula examples to divide cells in Excel, please check out the following resources:

Split cells using Split Text feature

Now that you are familiar with the inbuilt features, let me show you an alternative way to divide cells in Excel. I mean the Split Text tool included with our Ultimate Suite for Excel. It can perform the following operations:

  • Split cell by character
  • Split cell by string
  • Split cell by mask (pattern)

For example, splitting the participant details in one cell into several cells can be done in 2 quick steps:

  1. Select the cells you want to separate, and click the Split Text icon on the Ablebits Data tab, in the Text group. The Split Text tool
  2. On the add-in's pane, configure the following options:
    • Select Comma and Space as the delimiters.
    • Select the Treat consecutive delimiters as one check box.
    • Choose Split to columns.
    • Click the Split button.
    Splitting cells by comma and space as the delimiters

Done! Four new columns with the split data are inserted between the original columns, and you only need to give those columns appropriate names: The original cells are split into 4 separate columns.

Tip. To separate a column of names to the first name, last name and middle name, you can use a special Split Names tool.

If you are curious to see the Split Text and Split Names tools in action, we are welcome to use the download link below. I thank you for reading and hope to see you on our blog next week!

Available downloads

Ultimate Suite 14-day fully-functional version (.exe file)

Table of contents

189 comments

  1. Hello,
    I am impressed with your article. In my data set, I have 15 order numbers and names separated by ";".
    Example (Dummy data with only 4 order numbers ans names) in cell A1
    12345;Tom
    12347;Jerry
    123458;Marvel
    1234590;Avengers
    How do I split the above cell in different columns and rows?
    Let me know if i need to provide other details.
    Thank you for your help:)

    • Hello!
      To split your text line by line, copy it (Ctrl + C), then paste (Ctrl + V) into MS Word, and then from Word copy it back to the Excel sheet. Then, to split the text into columns, use any of the methods described earlier in this tutorial.

      • Thank you, it worked :)

  2. Dear Team,
    Please sort out the issues in excel

    I have the data for
    M10
    M3
    M35
    M45
    1/8
    5/16
    0.562
    M1.1/4
    I want to sort out the data

    Please clear the issues

  3. Thanks for your guidance.
    My query is,
    (6) AHMEDABAD-H.O. ABC BANK PRAHLADNAGAR 5771234560306
    (6) AHMEDABAD - H.O. ABC BANK 557912314585
    (6) AHMEDABAD - HO XYZ BANK LTD 00678787800073
    (6) AHMEDABAD-H.O. CBI 371010101070
    (6) AHMEDABAD-H.O. PQR BANK 015784512300
    (6) AHMEDABAD-H.O. ABC 50987654321002

    SO how to separate only numbers in above date as data is not in same structure?

  4. Siva564794
    5637489sudi
    Sankar5749Siva
    Can you spilt this data

  5. HAI,
    I HAVE A DATE IN THE FORMAT 13-12-2019. NOW I WANT THIS DATE TO BE FIT IN 10 EXCEL COLUMNS.
    CAN SOMEBODY HELP ME IN GIVING THE FORMULA FOR THIS.

  6. If we have one cell that can say something like "24 hours, 72 hours, 1 week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 8 weeks, 12 weeks" (there can be many different possibilities in this cell), is there a way to display results in multiple cells of that same row, but instead of just displaying the words "24 hours", "1 week", etc, we need it to instead display an actual date in those multiple cells, each cell calculating the actual date based on another cell ("Start Date" field which is a date field), so one cell would display the date that is 24 hours after the Start Date, the next cell would display the date that is 72 hours after the Start Date, the next cell would display the date that is 1 week after the Start Date, and so forth and so on. I'm thinking this can either be calculated out before or after doing the text-to-columns thing? Ideally calculated out DURING the text-to-columns thing so it is done in one fell swoop. Does this make sense?

  7. How do split up the below value using excel formula.
    1. 14"x6" = for this I need the output as like: 14" 6"
    2. 12.50 x 2.50 x 0.50 Inches = for this I need the output as like: 12.50" 2.50" 0.50"

  8. Dear all,
    Can you please help me to split some numbers from the below listed items?
    112.74|HOURS|||4126949_Draftsperson / Senior CAD Operator - 413841 - NT
    158.32|HOURS|||4400936_Principal Engineer - 417430 - NT
    173.2|HOURS|||3968060_Senior Principal Engineer - 376731 - NT
    I want to get 4126949,4400936 and 3968060.
    Thanks,
    Dan.

  9. Dear all,
    I have a document with a lot of cells with each cells several lines of data in it. I am looking of a way to separate the different lines into different cells. How can I do that?

    Buffet breakfast included.
    Free unlimited access to Wild Wadi waterpark™.
    Resort credit from AED 200 to AED 2000 as per booked room category per stay, to be used on selected dining and spa options.
    Free parking.

  10. Name & No. separation formula.

  11. Dear Sir/Mam,

  12. How should I convert the data below (break the text at the mentioned points?
    Q1. The difference between the local government in India before and after the Constitutional Amendments in 1992:
    1. It has become mandatory to hold regular elections to the local government bodies.
    2. 1/3rd positions are reserved for women.
    3. Elected officials exercise supreme power in the government.
    Select the correct answer using the code given below: (break)
    a. 1 only (Break)
    b. 1 and 2 only (Break)
    c. 1, 2 and 3 (Break)
    d. 2 and 3 only (Break)

    Thanks in advance

  13. Please help to use only text manipulation (i.e., MID, CONCATENATE, etc.) and/or logical and conditional formulas (i.e., IF, AND, etc.) to populate cells for:
    Product Sales COGS Color Sales COGS Size Sales COGS
    Text details as:
    Product1.5000.500.Orange.5.2.XS.2.1
    Product2.7500.1000.Blue.4.2.S.4.2
    Product3.2500.200.Red.3.1.M.10.4
    Product4.8000.2000.Pink.3.1.L.20.9
    Product5.10000.1750.Grey.5.3.XL.30.16
    Product6.1500.75.Green.3.1
    Product7.4000.600.Yellow.7.3
    Product8.8500.1750.Purple.9.4
    Product9.11000.3500.Brown.8.4
    Product10.9000.4000.White.6.3
    Black.11.5
    Tan.7.3
    Teal.6.3
    Maroon.10.4
    Olive.3.2

  14. Hi,Ekaterina.
    I have did formulas length more than 15,000, couldn't save excel getting error "formula is too long. Formulas may not exceed 8192 character" any chances to overcome this
    +973-33082946

  15. What if i have:
    100.00% Owned AS,100.00% Owned GU,100.00% Owned MP,100.00% Owned PR,100.00% Owned UM,100.00% Owned US,100.00% Owned VI,100.00% Owned BR,100.00% Owned BR,100.00% Owned AS,100.00% Owned BR,100.00% Owned GU,100.00% Owned MP,100.00% Owned PR,100.00% Owned UM,100.00% Owned US,100.00% Owned VI
    And i want it to separate to columns: 100(1st column) AS GU MP PR UM US VI(2nd column) 100(3rd) BR(4th) 100(5th) BR(6th)

    Can u help solve this?

  16. How can do in one excel cell given below

    "
    Reasons for decrease:

    Reasons for Increase

    Variation Explained - "

  17. need a formula to split the address in 4 cells that should not exceed more than 25 characters and minimum should be 3 characters
    For Ex:
    45/232A Nehru street Block 5G Kamaraj Building Hyderadad

  18. Hi svetlana madam,

    i need your help for solve this problem

    stock on godown computer "55nos" printer "200nos"

    some branches need computer and printer example

    branch1 need computer "50nos"

    branch5 need computer "25nos"

    branch8 need computer "5nos"

    we want show our stock details in next cell, i'm used vlookup formula but here showing full stock details "55nos"

    i need branch1 show "55" stock, branch5 show "(55-50=5)" and brnach8 show "zero" stock

    please help me ....as early as possible

    regards
    midhi

  19. Hi svetlana madam,

    i need your help for solve this problem

    Stock require and Allocation details

    branch name item required qty Sock allocation(need this column calculation formula)
    branch 1 computer 50 55
    branch 2 mouse 10 0
    branch 3 printer 15 200
    branch 4 lap top 20 0
    branch 5 computer 25 =55-50
    branch 6 keyboard 30 0
    branch 7 mobile 35 0
    branch 8 tablet 40 0
    branch 9 mobile cover 45 0
    branch 10 tablet cover 50 0
    branch 11 printer 55 =200-15

    Stock on godown
    item qty
    computer 55
    printer 200

    please help As early as possible.....

    with regards
    midhi

  20. hi,

    can you please help me to split my data as these are in this format.
    Base Data
    aaa-gg1tttttttttttttt/01 Term Insurance Acc/45125 12 july 1999
    aaa-gg1kkkkkkkkkk/02 Family Insurance Acc/45126 12 july 1998
    aaa-gg1tttttttttttttt/03 Flotter Familly Insurance Acc/45129 12 july 1996
    aaa-gg1kkkkkkkkkk/03 Fixed Insurance Acc/45130 12 july 1992

    and split required like this.
    column1 aaa-gg1tttttttttttttt/01 column 2 Term Insurance Column3 Acc/45125 Column4 12 july 1999

  21. Thank You for this information, i am enjoying flash function for my validation purpose and i am enjoying learning new things.

    Thanks again for all the hard work you have done

  22. Hi,
    Is it possible to separate January-Mar to values January, February, March?

    Thanks!

  23. how to spit in one cell name is A

  24. Hi,guys
    can you help me please how to separate a text from the cell
    for example i have a cell 2Aa0;8x2;Fc< and how can i separate the text "Aa" and "Fc" from the cell by a function.

    Thank you

  25. Hi,
    Pls help how to change 20180320 to 20.03.2018 with function concatenate combine with right,mid & left .
    Thanks

    • =RIGHT(A1;2)&"."&MID(A1;5;2)&"."&LEFT(A1;4)

  26. I have a names list of 600 people. Somehow text to column does not work to seperate them, actually it only works for people with 3 names for some reason. please help me. thanks.

    • Hello,

      I'd recommend you to have a look at our Split Names tool that can help you to detach different parts of the names and place them in separate columns. The add-in comes as a part of our Ultimate Suite for Excel. You can download and install the fully functional 14-day trial version of Ultimate Suite using this direct link. After installation, you'll find the Split Names tool in the Transform section under the Ablebits Tools tab.

      If you don't get the result you need, then you can send us a small sample workbook with your source data and the result you want to achieve. We'll look into your task and try to find a better solution.
      Please shorten your table to 10-20 rows / columns and email it to support@ablebits.com. Please also don't forget to include the link to your comment in the email.

      Thank you.

  27. its very helpfull for us lots of time reduced, thank you very much

  28. Is there a way to split up a blank cell more than twice, giving one more than 4 boxes in 1? I need to have around 6 blank boxes in one cell, almost like a mini-table to indicate 6 different numbers in one cell. I have used the format cells function and so far the most I can get is two divisions in one box but I need 3 or 4.

    Thank you for your time.

  29. Dear Friends

    Please help in Excel Sheet

    Cell 1 Cell 2 Answer
    123 456 123456

    Kindly provide Formula

    • Hello,

      If I understand your task correctly, please try to enter the following formula in cell C1:

      =A1&B1

      where cell A1 is “123”, cell B1 is “456”

      Hope it will help you.

  30. Hi Ablebits.com Team,

    first thank you .

    I have different no in column a b c d f with blank cell, wan't arrange all no in one column accept blank cell . Please suggest

  31. Hi,

    How do i split the following cells into separate cells using a formula.
    I have managed to get the far left and right values but I'm struggling to extract the two center values. I'm at a loss with this. Will highly appreciate any help. I know i can use text to columns but this isn't ideal.

    1:1-1-1
    10:2-3-4

    • Hi, James,

      to separate the second value on the left, try this:
      =LEFT(RIGHT(A1,LEN(A1)-FIND(":",A1)),FIND("-",RIGHT(A1,LEN(A1)-FIND(":",A1)))-1)

      to separate the third value, use the following:
      =LEFT(RIGHT(A1,LEN(A1)-FIND("-",A1)),FIND("-",RIGHT(A1,LEN(A1)-FIND("-",A1)))-1)

      You may find these articles helpful:
      LEFT function
      RIGHT function
      FIND function

      • Hi,
        Could you help me to seperate 4, 5 and last value. Thanks in advance

  32. Good day

    How do I split column that has 2 different data, into 2.
    Here is an example :

    RED APPLES 10 KG SOLD
    GREED APPLES 12 KG AVAILABLE
    GREED APPLES 5 KG AVAILABLE
    Green apples 5KG AVAILABLE
    Green apples 7KG SOLD
    Red apples 3KG SOLD
    Green apples 2KG SOLD
    Red apples 9KG AVAILABLE
    Red apples 15KG SOLD

    I want to create excel spreadsheet with 2 separate coulombs for AVAILABLE and SOLD.

    THANKS

    • Good day to you too,

      well, if you want to use the formulas, let's suppose that your data is in Sheet2, column A.

      You could try this formula in Sheet1 column A (A1, and then copy the formula down):
      =IF((ISNUMBER(SEARCH("sold",Sheet2!A1)))=TRUE,Sheet2!A1,"")

      and this in Sheet1 column B:
      =IF((ISNUMBER(SEARCH("available",Sheet2!A1)))=TRUE,Sheet2!A1,"")

      Then you will only need to delete empty cells.
      Hope this helps!

  33. how to creat formila column to text in excel

  34. __xxx
    ___xxx
    ____xxx
    _xxx

    XXXX
    XXXX
    XXXX

  35. hello there,
    I have a text which I paste on excel but the problem is the text contains space in the beginning for example:
    xxxx
    xxxxx
    xxxxxx

    I want it to be like this
    xxxx
    xxxx
    xxxx

    I know text to column with fixed width will fix this but I need a formula to arrange this file to start from the beginning

    best regards,
    ali

  36. How do I split text paragraph content into cells?
    I have the following text (questions and answers) in one cell and would like each question and answer to become it's own cell in a column. Is this possible? Can I for example get the "Project Goal" and its answer into a different cell either to the right or below?

    • PROJECT GOAL?:

    Understand unique factors in shopping for "high consideration" items, across categories.

    Could also hit bundling and DEX / delivery notification issues.

    • WHAT QUESTION(S) ARE YOU TRYING TO ANSWER WITH THIS RESEARCH?:

    How do customers shop for high-consideration items?

    • WHAT IS YOUR TIME FRAME FOR NEEDED RESEARCH?
    [Please include any milestones, launch dates, dependencies.]

    None. Discovery oriented project.

    • PROJECT PRIORITY - LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH?:
    [If high, why?]

    Medium.

    Thanks!!

  37. In One Cell I have putted the 3 dates Together (Eg 03-12-16/02-01-2017/2-12-16) and in another sheet I only want the Date which is the latest What I have to do please Help me out

  38. Dear,

    when I select product name in Colum-A(Product name)and auto data input in Colum-B (Product Rate), Colum-C (Product Part No),

  39. Dear,

    i have a question for excle...
    how can divide a single call into two parts.

    please help

    Thanks

    • Hi Dear use taxt to column formulla

  40. In excel one is A B C D E another is 1 2 3 4 5, now i request u how to seperate lines 1 to 5 are mixed.

    pl. explain in excel sheet.

  41. How to extract number from text
    AP1P2L3E

  42. Rupesh(1-34)+SP(35-36)+Rupesh(37-41)+SP(42-48)+Rupesh(49-59)+SP(60)+Rupesh(61-90)+SP(91-96)+Rupesh(97-103)+SP(104-108)+Rupesh(109-115)+SP(116-120)+XD(121-144)

    How to take
    In a Column 1-34,37-41,49-59,61-90,97-103,109-115
    In next column 35-36,42-48,60,91-96,104-108,116-120
    and in next column 121-144

    Help me if you have any suggestion.

  43. how to split only number into that text(Hoshangabad121904Hasalpur)

  44. Superb article - managed to use the formulae so don't have to convert text to columns from a pivot every week!

  45. As i am exporting data from customised software to excel the work orders looks like
    30\EE-III\2016-17 1st part bill and
    30\EE-III\2016-17 2nd part bill
    now i want to remove 1st part bill using formula. at present i am using cursor to remove. please help ASAP

  46. i want to split a single cell in to two column
    how can possible

  47. I want separate text from number in Microsoft 2007

  48. How to split it a column and save into multiple spreadsheet?

  49. Hi, I have a query.

    From one of my reports, I get the name and employee number together in the same field. How can I separate the name and employee number?
    For example, in my report, I get the following:
    Assigned To
    Joylan Andrade G920526
    Rahul Dravid G456789

    But I want to split the cell to show Name separately and Employee Number separately and I want to do it for a list of names in the report.
    It should look like:
    Name Employee Number
    Joylan Andrade G920526
    Rahul Dravid G456789

    Please let me know if you can help :)

  50. I have a problem with the text is too big in a cell. The max. row height is 409 and text length is 3,147 chars in column "C"; let say Cells(19, "C"). How can I split this cells into multiple cells, maybe 3 or 4 cells so I can read the text. For example Cells(19, "C") with text length of 800 chars. Cells(20, "C") with the same length and Cells(21, "C") and so on until I can read the whole text by using
    Rows(index).EntireRow.Insert, etc.
    Please let me know.
    Thanks for your help,
    DU

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