How do I use Text to Columns in Excel?

Select the cell or column that holds the text you want to split, then go to Data > Text to Columns. In the Convert Text to Columns Wizard, choose Delimited, select Next, tick the delimiters your data uses (Comma and Space, for example), and check the result in the Data preview window. Then select Next, choose where the split data should appear with the Destination box, and select Finish.

What is a delimiter in Excel?

A delimiter is the character that separates one value from the next inside a piece of text. In delimited text files a tab typically separates each field, and in .csv files a comma typically does. The wizard's delimiter step offers Tab, Semicolon, Comma, and Space, plus an Other box that takes a character you type, so a pipe or a slash works too.

Why did Text to Columns overwrite the data next to my column?

Because the split pieces spread into the columns to the right of the column you split. Microsoft's guidance is to keep enough blank columns to the right so that no adjacent data gets overwritten, inserting empty columns first if you need them. You can also point the Destination box at an empty area of the sheet, which leaves the original column in place.

How do I keep leading zeros when using Text to Columns?

On the wizard's final step, click the column that holds the codes in the Data preview and set its Column data format to Text. A column brought across as Text keeps its leading zeros. Left on General, Excel reads digit entries as numbers, and a number does not keep its leading zeros.

Why are my dates wrong after using Text to Columns?

Usually because the date column was converted under the wrong order. On the wizard's final step, set the column's format to Date and pick the order the incoming text is written in, such as DMY, MDY, or YMD: DMY reads 03/04/2026 as 3 April, while MDY reads the same text as 4 March. And if a date column sits left-aligned after the split, those entries are still text, not dates.

Is Text to Columns available in Excel for the web?

Excel for the web has a shorter version of the feature: select the cell, range, or column, go to the Data tab, select Split Text to Columns, tick the delimiters you want, and select Apply. Microsoft documents the full three-step wizard, with Fixed width and the Column data format options, for the desktop versions of Excel.

Text to Columns in Excel: split one column into several

To split one column into several in Excel: select the column, go to Data > Text to Columns, choose Delimited or Fixed width, tick the delimiter that separates the pieces, set the Destination, and select Finish. The dialog that walks you through those choices is the Convert Text to Columns Wizard, and it is the built-in way to break a Full Name column into First Name and Last Name, or to turn a pasted export into real columns.

This page covers the wizard itself: its three steps, the column formats on the final step that protect dates and leading zeros, and the way its output lands in neighboring columns. If your question is the broader one, how to get one cell’s contents into several cells at all, including the formula routes, start with how to split cells in Excel.

How do I use Text to Columns?

The example Microsoft walks through: a worksheet with a Full Name column that should become a First Name column and a Last Name column.

	A	B
1	Full Name
2	Maria Jones
3	Priya Patel
4	Sam Ortiz

Each cell in A2:A4 holds two facts separated by a space. Column B is blank, ready to receive the second half of the split.

The click path:

Select the cell or column that contains the text you want to split. Here that is A2:A4, not the whole column, so the Full Name header stays in one piece. The selection can run any number of rows but only one column at a time.
Select Data > Text to Columns. On the ribbon it sits in the Data Tools group.
In the Convert Text to Columns Wizard, choose Delimited and select Next.
Tick the delimiters your data uses; for the names above, Space alone does it. The Data preview window shows how the text will land, so you can check the split before committing. Select Next.
Set any Column data format that matters (the next sections cover when it does), then select the Destination: the cell where the split data should start.
Select Finish.

	A	B
1	Full Name
2	Maria	Jones
3	Priya	Patel
4	Sam	Ortiz

After the split with Space as the only delimiter: A2:A4 keep the first names and the surnames land in B2:B4. Type the new headers yourself.

The wizard’s output is ordinary values in cells, not formulas, so it does not update if the source text later changes. For a split that has to stay live, use a formula route instead; those are covered in how to split cells in Excel.

What is a delimiter?

A delimiter is the character that separates one value from the next inside a piece of text. Microsoft’s own file-format descriptions are the cleanest illustration: in delimited text files, a tab character typically separates each field, and in comma separated values files (.csv), the comma typically does.

The wizard’s delimiter step offers Tab, Semicolon, Comma, and Space as checkboxes, and an Other box that takes a character you type, so data split by pipes or slashes works too. You can tick more than one at once; Microsoft’s walkthrough picks Comma and Space together. Two refinements on the same screen are easy to overlook:

Treat consecutive delimiters as one collapses a run of delimiters into a single split point, which is what you want for data padded with repeated spaces. Without it, each extra delimiter produces another empty column.
The Text qualifier box names the character, usually the quotation mark, that wraps a value so its contents stay together even when they contain the delimiter.

When should I choose Fixed width instead?

Delimited covers most real data. Fixed width is for the other kind of export, where no separator character exists but every field occupies the same character positions on every row, the shape of many reports out of older systems. Choose it on the wizard’s first step and step 2 changes: instead of delimiter checkboxes you get the preview with vertical break lines, where you click to place a column break, drag a break to move it, and double-click one to remove it.

Which Column data format should I pick on the final step?

Most people click straight through the wizard’s final step, and most of the time General, the default, is fine. The Column data format box is there for the two cases where it is not: dates and codes. Click a column in the Data preview to select it, then pick its format.

Date columns. Set the format to Date and pick the order the incoming text is written in: DMY, MDY, YMD and the rest. The letters name the positions of day, month, and year in the source text, so DMY reads 03/04/2026 as 3 April while MDY reads the same characters as 4 March. Microsoft uses exactly this step as a repair tool: when text dates break subtraction because of leading spaces, its fix is to run Data > Text to Columns on the date column, select Next twice, choose Date under Column data format, pick the format, and select Finish. What a real date is, and why a date left as text will not sort or calculate, is the subject of Excel date formats. The quick check after any split: real dates sit right-aligned, and a date column that comes out left-aligned is still text.

Code columns. Set the format to Text for zip codes, part numbers, account references, anything whose digits are labels rather than quantities. A column brought across as Text keeps its leading zeros, the case Microsoft’s import guidance singles out; left on General, Excel reads digit entries as numbers, and a number does not keep its leading zeros, so 00501 comes out as 501. When text is the right type on purpose, and how to spot it when it is not, is covered in numbers stored as text in Excel.

Columns you do not want. Do not import column (skip) drops the selected column from the output altogether, which is tidier than deleting it afterwards.

Why did Text to Columns overwrite the next column?

Because the output spreads sideways. The split pieces fill the columns to the right of the column you split, and Microsoft’s page on distributing cell contents spells out the consequence: “It’s important to keep enough blank columns to the right of the selected column, which will prevent data in any adjacent columns from being overwritten by the data that is to be distributed.” If the neighbors are occupied, insert enough empty columns to hold every piece before you run the wizard.

	A	B
1	Full Name	Email
2	Maria Jones	mj@firm.example
3	Priya Patel	pp@firm.example
4	Sam Ortiz	so@firm.example

Splitting column A at the space sends the surnames into column B, and B2:B4 already hold the email addresses. Insert a blank column between A and B first, or send the output elsewhere with Destination.

The other guard is the Destination box on the wizard’s final step, which sets where the split data appears. Point it at an empty area of the sheet and the output lands there, leaving the original column untouched, which also gives you a side-by-side check before you delete anything.

When is Text to Columns the wrong tool?

The pattern varies from row to row. The wizard splits on one rule for every row, so a name like “Maria de la Cruz” ends up in four columns under a space delimiter. For pattern work, Excel offers Flash Fill, which Microsoft describes in one line: “Flash Fill automatically fills your data when it senses a pattern.” The jobs Microsoft demonstrates it on are the same shape, pulling apart or joining name columns; type the result you want in the first cell or two, then run Data > Flash Fill or press Ctrl+E, on Windows and Mac alike.

You need the split to come back together. Splitting is a wizard job; rejoining is a formula job. Microsoft’s page on distributing cell contents points at the CONCAT and CONCATENATE functions for the reverse step, and the practical patterns are in concatenate in Excel.

The “column” is really a merged cell or a layout problem. Unmerging, splitting one cell in half, and choosing between the wizard and formulas are all covered in how to split cells in Excel.

Does Text to Columns work in Excel for the web?

Excel for the web has a shorter version of the same feature. Select the cell, range, or column, then on the Data tab select Split Text to Columns, tick the delimiters, and select Apply. The full three-step wizard, with Fixed width and the Column data format options, is documented for the desktop versions of Excel.

The short version

Select the column, Data > Text to Columns, choose Delimited or Fixed width, tick the delimiters, set the Destination, Finish. One column at a time, any number of rows.
The final step’s Column data format is the safety step: Date plus the source order (DMY, MDY, YMD) for date columns, Text for codes that keep leading zeros, Do not import column (skip) for columns you do not want.
The output spreads into the columns to the right. Keep enough blank columns there, or point Destination at an empty area.
Treat consecutive delimiters as one handles space-padded data; Other takes any delimiter Excel does not list.
The wizard writes static values. Flash Fill covers pattern jobs, concatenate in Excel puts split data back together, and when a split reshaped a workbook that someone else reviews, compare the two versions: the comparison works cell by cell, so every moved or retyped value shows up as its own change.