SPLIT in Google Sheets
Use SPLIT to break one cell into several — separate a full name, split a CSV line, or pull parts out of a code.
=SPLIT(A2, ",")
Breaks the text in A2 at each comma and spills the pieces across columns to the right.
How it works
SPLIT takes the text and a delimiter — the character(s) to break on. By default each character in the delimiter is treated as its own separator, and empty pieces are removed. The results spill into the cells to the right, so leave those columns empty.
Variations
Split on a space (first/last name)
=SPLIT(A2, " ")
Turns "Ada Lovelace" into two cells.
Split on a whole word, not each letter
=SPLIT(A2, " - ", FALSE)
FALSE for the third argument treats " - " as one delimiter instead of splitting on space or dash.
Keep empty cells between delimiters
=SPLIT(A2, ",", TRUE, FALSE)
The last FALSE keeps blank fields, so "a,,b" gives three cells.
Split every row at once
=ARRAYFORMULA(SPLIT(A2:A10, ","))
Applies SPLIT down a column.
Examples
| Scenario | Formula |
|---|---|
| First name only | =INDEX(SPLIT(A2, " "), 1) |
| Split an email at the @ | =SPLIT(A2, "@") |
| Domain from an email | =INDEX(SPLIT(A2, "@"), 2) |
FAQ
How do I split without breaking on every character?
Pass FALSE as the third argument: =SPLIT(A2, " - ", FALSE) treats the whole string as one delimiter.
How do I get just one part of a split?
Wrap it in INDEX: =INDEX(SPLIT(A2, " "), 1) returns the first piece.
Why does SPLIT overwrite my other columns?
SPLIT spills into the cells to the right. Move it to an empty area or extract a single piece with INDEX.