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

Written by Nicole Levine, MFA

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.

Steps

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It’s in the All Apps area of the Start
menu in Windows, and in the Applications folder in macOS.
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.
This highlights the cell(s).
It’s at the center of the ribbon bar at the top of Excel. A dialog box will pop up.
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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.
It’s at the bottom of the window.
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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.
It’s at the bottom of the window.
Choose the option that best describes the format in the “Column data format” box.
Now you can select where to place the split data.
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.
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.
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.