Contents

# Text to Columns

Opens the Text to Columns dialog, where you enter settings to expand the contents of selected cells to multiple cells.

To access this command...

#### From the menu bar:

Choose Data - Text to Columns.

#### From the tabbed interface:

Choose Data - Text to Columns.

On the Data menu of the Data tab, choose Text to Columns.

#### From toolbars:

Text to Columns

## To expand cell contents to multiple cells

You can expand cells that contain comma separated values (CSV) into multiple cells in the same row.

For example, cell A1 contains the comma separated values 1,2,3,4, and cell A2 contains the text A,B,C,D.

1. Select the cell or cells that you want to expand.

2. Choose Data - Text to Columns.

   You see the Text to Columns dialog.

3. Select the separator options. The preview shows how the current cell contents will be transformed into multiple cells.

You can select a fixed width and then click the ruler on the preview to set cell breakup positions.

You can select or enter separator characters to define the positions of breaking points. The separator characters are removed from the resulting cell contents.

In the example, you select the comma as a delimiter character. Cells A1 and A2 will be expanded to four columns each. A1 contains 1, B1 contains 2, and so on.

Related Topics

Opening and Saving Text CSV Files

Importing and Exporting CSV Text Files with Formulas