How to split text down a whole column with ARRAYFORMULA in Excel and Google Sheets

Heads up: Excel and Google Sheets do this differently.

Excel

=TEXTSPLIT(A2,",")

Google Sheets

=ARRAYFORMULA(SPLIT(A2:A4,","))

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1In Google Sheets, place your delimited data in column A (e.g., 'Alice,30,Engineer').
2In an empty cell on the same row as your first data row, type =ARRAYFORMULA(SPLIT(A2:A100,",")) and press Enter.
3Sheets splits each cell into separate columns for every row automatically — ensure the columns to the right are empty.
4In Excel 365, use =TEXTSPLIT(A2,",") per row, or use Data → Text to Columns for a one-time static split.

ARRAYFORMULA(SPLIT(...)) can't spill into a range that already has data — clear the destination columns first, or it will throw a #REF! error.

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Yes — SPLIT accepts a string of delimiter characters or you can use a regex pattern: =ARRAYFORMULA(SPLIT(A2:A100,",|;")).

Excel 365 has TEXTSPLIT which works similarly. For older Excel, use Data → Text to Columns or the LEFT/MID/FIND combination.

Written and reviewed by FormulaCraft Team. Each formula on this page is run through our verification engine before publishing.

Last reviewed: May 28, 2026