To analyze, edit, and organize different types of data, we use spreadsheet tools, such as Google Sheets. There are many features and commands you can use on Google Sheets. However, one of the common features that people use is dividing text into columns.
It is useful when working with a huge list of data and want to separate the information into two columns.
We’ll show you how to split data into columns using the text-to-column function in Google Sheets. Obviously, with its help, you can avoid wasting time copying and pasting data into different columns.
Uses of Split . function
Let’s look at a few situations where splitting your data into two columns can be quite useful.
For example, on a spreadsheet with a huge list of names, you can split them by name and name in two different columns.
It also works when you want to separate letters and numeric values from the invoice list. Similarly, you can use the split function to extract usernames and domains from the list of email IDs you are working with. You can get creative to use this function and let’s see how to use it.
Steps to use Split text into columns in Google Sheets
Now that you understand the different uses of the column text function in Google Sheets, let’s see how you can use it. We’ll use examples to explain how useful this feature can be.
1. Separation of First Name and Last Name
The steps below will use the split function to help you separate first and last names from a list of full names.
Step 1: Open any web browser on your laptop and open Google Sheets.
Step 2: Upload the data set including the first and last names you want to split onto the spreadsheet in Google Sheets.
Step 3: Select the entire column of data you want to split.
Step 4: From the top Menu bar, click on the Data tab. From the drop-down list, select the option Split text into columns.
Step 5: A Delimiter dialog box will appear on the selected data for which you need to select the Space option.
Let’s say you have a list of names and they are separated by commas. For example, God, Kelvin. You will need to select the Comma option from the Delimiter dialog box.
Alternatively, you can also leave the option as Autodetect in the Delimiter dialog box.
Step 6: As soon as you click on the Space button, you will see the full name separated into first and last name.
After this, you will have two separated lists of names in Google Sheets.
2. Separate the domain name from the URL
Now let’s see how you can use the split function to separate the domain name from the URL.
Step 1: Open Google Sheets in any web browser and upload the dataset to the spreadsheet.
Step 2: Select the column of data you want to split.
Step 3: Navigate to the top Menu bar and click on the Data tab. From the drop-down list of options that appears, click the Split text into columns option.
Step 4: A Delimiter dialog box will pop up on the selected data. You need to click on the Customize option in the Delimiter dialog box.
Step 5: When you click on the Customize button, it will show you a blank input field. Here you need to enter / to separate the domain name from the URL.
Similarly, if you want to separate the username and domain name from the list of email IDs, then you need to enter @ in the Custom Delimiter field.
Step 6: When you enter the / character in the Custom Delimiter field, you will see that the domain name will be separated from the URL.
It’s a way to separate the URL from the Domain Name or other information for easy reference later.
Split data and save time
The examples mentioned above show you how to do the Split text column function in Google Sheets easily. You can use the text column feature to avoid manually editing the data.
Categories: How to
Source: thpttranhungdao.edu.vn/en/