Split Text into Columns in Google Sheets: A Step-by-Step Guide

Published
March 18, 2024
LAST UPDATED
January 7, 2025
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TL;DR

Select your data, click Data, then Split text to columns.

By the way, we're Bardeen, we build a free AI Agent for doing repetitive tasks.

If you use Google Sheets often, check out our GPT in Spreadsheets feature. It can automate data entry, formatting, and more.

Google Sheets Text to Column

Converting text to columns in Google Sheets is a useful skill for organizing and analyzing data more efficiently. This guide will walk you through the steps and methods to split text into columns, using various delimiters such as spaces, commas, or custom characters.

Automate your Google Sheets operations and save time with Bardeen. Discover how to automate Google Sheets for more efficiency.

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Text to Column in Google Sheets

To begin, ensure your data is in one column and that adjacent columns are empty to avoid overwriting existing data. Select the range of cells containing the text you want to divide.

  1. Click on Data in the menu.
  2. Select Split text to columns.
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Google Sheets will attempt to automatically detect the separator used in your data. If it guesses correctly, your data will be split accordingly. If not, you can manually select the appropriate delimiter.

Google Sheets Split Text to Columns

After selecting Split text to columns, a Separator menu will appear next to your selected data. Click the dropdown to choose your delimiter: Comma, Semicolon, Period, Space, or Custom. If choosing Custom, enter the character that separates your data in the text box provided.

For example, to split full names into first and last names, select Space as your separator. For email addresses, where you want to separate the username from the domain, select Custom and enter the @ symbol.

Split Text to Columns Google Sheets

After selecting your separator, simply click anywhere on the sheet to apply the changes. Your text will now be split into separate columns based on the delimiter you selected. This process can be used for various types of data, including full names, email addresses, and URLs, enhancing your data organization and analysis capabilities in Google Sheets.

Remember, it's important to review your newly split data to ensure it has been divided as intended. You may need to perform additional data cleanup if the original data did not follow a consistent format.

Want to learn more about Google Sheets automation? Check out our blog post on addons for Google Sheets, discover how to automate Google Sheets, or explore a collection of Google Sheets automations.

Automate Google Sheets with Bardeen Playbooks

While converting text to columns in Google Sheets can be done manually following the steps above, automating this task can significantly enhance productivity, especially when dealing with large datasets or frequent updates. Automation with Bardeen can streamline workflows, reduce repetitive tasks, and ensure data consistency.

Automate your Google Sheets operations with these Bardeen playbooks:

  1. Save selected text to Google Sheets, when I right-click: Capture and save any selected text from the web directly into Google Sheets with a simple right-click, perfect for research and data collection.
  2. Copy a newly created Asana task to Google Sheets: Automate the process of syncing new tasks from Asana to Google Sheets, streamlining project management and task tracking.
  3. Copy TechCrunch articles for a keyword to Google Sheets: Keep up with the latest TechCrunch articles on your topics of interest by automatically copying them into a Google Sheet for easy access and analysis.

Explore these automations to boost your efficiency in managing Google Sheets data. Download the Bardeen app at Bardeen.ai/download to get started.

Jason Gong

Jason is the Head of Growth at Bardeen. As a previous YC founder and early growth hire at Kite and Affirm, he is an expert on scaling high-leverage sales, marketing, and GTM tactics across multiple channels with automation. The same type of automation Bardeen is now innovating with AI. He lives in Oakland with his family and enjoys hikes, tennis, golf, and anything that can tire out his dog Orca.

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