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How to parse a CSV string inside a single cell in Excel and Google Sheets
Topic:Text manipulationHeads up: Excel and Google Sheets do this differently.
Excel
=TEXTSPLIT(A2, ",")Google Sheets
=SPLIT(A2, ",")Try it with your data
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Step by step
- 1Place the CSV string in A2, e.g. apple,banana,cherry,date.
- 2In Excel 365: enter =TEXTSPLIT(A2, ",") in B2 — values spill horizontally across B2, C2, D2, E2.
- 3In Google Sheets: enter =SPLIT(A2, ",") in B2 — same horizontal spill behavior.
- 4To spill values vertically instead, in Excel use =TEXTSPLIT(A2, , ",") (col_delimiter blank, row_delimiter is the comma); in Sheets use =TRANSPOSE(SPLIT(A2, ",")).
- 5To trim surrounding whitespace from each value, wrap with TRIM: =TRIM(TEXTSPLIT(A2, ",")) in Excel — TRIM applies to the whole array automatically.
Tips
- TEXTSPLIT is only available in Excel 365 and Excel 2024+. In older Excel, use Data → Text to Columns (one-time, not dynamic) or a formula with TRIM/MID/FIND.
- SPLIT in Sheets treats each character in the delimiter string as a separate delimiter by default. Use SPLIT(A2, ",", TRUE, TRUE) with the third argument FALSE to treat the whole delimiter as one unit.
- If values themselves may contain commas (quoted CSV like "Smith, John"), TEXTSPLIT supports a quote character argument: =TEXTSPLIT(A2, ",", , , , "\"").
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Frequently asked
How do I handle a CSV string with a variable number of values?
Both TEXTSPLIT and SPLIT handle variable-length strings automatically — the spill region expands to however many values exist. No need to pre-count.
Can I TEXTSPLIT a range of cells at once?
Yes in Excel: =TEXTSPLIT(TEXTJOIN("|", TRUE, A2:A5), ",", "|") combines all rows first, then splits on commas, using | as the row delimiter. In Sheets, wrap SPLIT in ARRAYFORMULA for a row-at-a-time split.
What if my CSV uses semicolons instead of commas?
Just change the delimiter argument: =TEXTSPLIT(A2, ";") or =SPLIT(A2, ";"). Both functions accept any string as the delimiter.
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