Excel How-To

How to Split Text into Columns in Excel

Split full names, addresses, or CSV-style cells into separate columns with the Text to Columns wizard or TEXTSPLIT.

Step by step

1
Select the column
Click the column header containing the combined text.
2
Open Text to Columns
Go to Data ▸ Text to Columns.
3
Choose a delimiter
Pick Delimited, then choose comma, space, or a custom character.
4
Finish
Set the destination cell and click Finish.

=TEXTSPLIT(A2, ",")

Text to Columns is a one-off action — if the source text changes, run it again or use a formula instead.
Flash Fill (Ctrl+E) can split text by example: type the first result and let Excel fill the rest.

How do I split without overwriting the next column?

In the wizard's last step, set Destination to an empty area first.

How do I split a full name into first and last name?

In Excel 365 use =TEXTBEFORE(A2, " ") for the first name and =TEXTAFTER(A2, " ") for the rest.

How do I split text with a formula in older Excel versions?

Use =LEFT(A2, FIND(" ", A2)-1) for the part before the first space and =MID(A2, FIND(" ", A2)+1, LEN(A2)) for the part after it.

How do I keep leading zeros when splitting?

In the last step of the wizard, select the column and set its data format to Text.

Functions