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How to split text into columns 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
- 1In Google Sheets, use =SPLIT(A2, " ") to split on spaces.
- 2In Excel 365, use =TEXTSPLIT(A2, " ") for the same result.
- 3Change " " to your delimiter — "," for commas, "-" for dashes.
Tips
- No TEXTSPLIT (older Excel)? Use Data → Text to Columns, or LEFT/MID with FIND.
- To grab just the first word, =LEFT(A2, FIND(" ", A2) - 1) works everywhere.
Need the Google Sheets version instead? Open Sheets variant in workspace →
Working on a sheet you inherited? Run the Auditor on the whole file first — it flags every #REF!, #N/A, broken column pattern, and inconsistent formula in seconds, free, no signup.
Frequently asked
Why does SPLIT not work in Excel?
SPLIT is a Google Sheets function. In Excel use TEXTSPLIT (365) or the Text to Columns tool.
How do I split first and last name?
Split on the space: =SPLIT(A2, " ") in Sheets or =TEXTSPLIT(A2, " ") in Excel returns first and last name in separate cells.
More on Text manipulation
See all →How-to
How to remove extra spaces
Clean leading, trailing, and double spaces with TRIM — the usual fix for lookups that fail on values that look identical.
How-toHow to convert text to a number
Turn numbers stored as text into real numbers with VALUE or by multiplying by 1 — the fix for sums that ignore values.
How-toHow to extract the domain from an email address
Pull everything after the @ from an email using FIND and MID. Works the same in Excel and Google Sheets.
How-toHow to extract the first name from a full name
Get the first name from a full name with LEFT and FIND, splitting on the first space. Works in Excel and Google Sheets.
How-toHow to add leading zeros
Pad numbers to a fixed width with leading zeros using TEXT, or a custom number format. Works in Excel and Google Sheets.
How-toHow to remove specific characters
Strip out a character — like dashes or currency symbols — with SUBSTITUTE. Nest it to remove several. Works in both apps.