How to Split a Cell in Excel on PC or Mac

You can easily split a cell value into two cells based on a comma, space, or other delimiter

Last Updated: May 25, 2022 Tested

This wikiHow teaches you how to split the data within a cell (or group of cells) based on a delimiter in Microsoft Excel.

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It’s in the All Apps area of the Start

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menu in Windows, and in the Applications folder in macOS.
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To do this, press Control + O , select the file, then click Open .

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It’s at the top of Excel, near the center.
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This highlights the cell(s).
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It’s at the center of the ribbon bar at the top of Excel. A dialog box will pop up.
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6
Select Delimited or Fixed width . If you’re not sure which to choose, check out the preview at the bottom of the window.
- Delimited: This option separates the values of a cell based a delimiter such as a comma or tab. Each side of the delimiter will go into its own cell.
- Fixed width: Separates the values into columns with spaces between the fields.
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It’s at the bottom of the window.
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8
Select a deliminator. Check the box in the “Delimiters” that describes where you want the separation to occur.
- For example, if you want to separate a first name from a last name (and the two names are separated by a space), check the “Space” option.
- Check the preview at the bottom of the window to make sure it looks right.
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It’s at the bottom of the window.
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Choose the option that best describes the format in the “Column data format” box.
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Now you can select where to place the split data.
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For example, if you want to overwrite the original cells with the new format, click and drag the mouse over the same cells you did earlier.
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It’s at the far-right side of the collapsed “Convert Text to Columns Wizard” box. This re-opens the wizard in its normal size.
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It’s at the bottom-right corner of the window. It’s at the bottom-right corner of the window. The selected cells are now split based on the selected delimiter, and the output now appears in the sheet.

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How to Split a Cell in Excel on PC or Mac

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