Split Text in Excel
Separate structured IDs or delimited text into columns.
What this solves
Split PO-material keys or CSV-like fields. This pattern is useful when the business question is clear but a generic tutorial is too abstract.
The rule
Use TEXTSPLIT in modern Excel or Text to Columns for one-time cleanup.
=TEXTSPLIT(A2,"-")Google Sheets: The core pattern is also usable in Google Sheets; exact function support and locale separators can differ.
Real-work checklist
- Define the business key and expected grain before writing the formula, query or markup.
- Test the pattern on a small known sample where you can verify the answer manually.
- Check missing values, duplicates and data types before trusting a large result.
- Scale to the real file or database only after the logic is proven.
Common mistake
Delimiters that also occur inside real values can split data incorrectly.