Written and reviewed by FormulaCraft Team. Each formula on this page is run through our verification engine before publishing.
Last reviewed:
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
Edit the grid or formula, then run it through a real spreadsheet engine — no signup.
Sample data — click any cell to edit
Runs server-side · free · no signup
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 it for your exact data?
Describe your columns in plain English and get the precise formula for your sheet, with the right Excel or Sheets syntax.
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.