Text to Columns in Excel – 7

Examples
 -- By Sumit Bansal - https://trumpexcel.com/excel-text-to-columns-examples/

Text to Columns is an amazing feature in Excel that deserves

a lot more credit than it usually gets.

As it’s name suggests, it is used to split the text into multiple

columns. For example, if you have a first name and last name in
the same cell, you can use this to quickly split these into two
different cells.

This can be really helpful when you get your data from databases
or you import it from other file formats such as Text or CSV.

In this tutorial, you’ll learn about many useful things that can be
done using Text to Columns in Excel.

This Tutorial Covers:

 Where to Find Text to Columns in Excel

o Example 1 – Split Names into the First Name and Last Name

o Example 2 – Split Email Ids into Username and Domain Name

o Example 3 – Get the Root Domain from URL

o Example 4 – Convert Invalid Date Formats Into Valid Date Formats

o Example 5 – Convert Text to Numbers

o Example 6 – Extract the First Five Characters of a String

o Example 7 – Convert Numbers with Trailing Minus Sign to negative

numbers

Where to Find Text to Columns in

Excel
To access Text to Columns, select the dataset and go to Data →
Data Tools → Text to Columns.

This would open the Convert Text to Columns Wizard.

This wizard has three steps and takes some user inputs before
splitting the text into columns (you will see how these different
options can be used in examples below).

To access Text to Columns, you can also use the keyboard

shortcut – ALT + A + E.

Now let’s dive in and see some amazing stuff you can do with
Text to Columns in Excel.

Example 1 – Split Names into the First

Name and Last Name
Suppose you have a dataset as shown below:
To quickly split the first name and the last name and get these in
separate cells, follow the below steps:

 Select the data set.

 Go to Data → Data Tools → Text to Columns. This will open

the Convert Text to Columns Wizard.

 In Step 1, make sure Delimited is selected (which is also the

default selection). Click on Next.
 In Step 2, select ‘Space’ as the delimiter. If you suspect that
there could be double/triple consecutive spaces between the
names, also select ‘Treat consecutive delimiters as one’
option. Click on Next.

 In Step 3, select the destination cell. If you don’t select a

destination cell, it would overwrite your existing data set with
the first name in the first column and last name in the
adjacent column. If you want to keep the original data intact,
 either create a copy or choose a different destination cell.

 Click on Finish.

This would instantly give you the results with the first name in one
column and last name in another column.

Note:
  This technique works well when you the name constitutes of
the first name and the last name only. In case there are
initials or middle names, then this might not work. Click
here for a detailed guide on how to tackle cases with
different combinations of names.

 The result you get from using the Text to Columns feature is
static. This means that if there are any changes in the
original data, you’ll have to repeat the process to get
updated results.
Also read: How to Sort by the Last Name in Excel

Example 2 – Split Email Ids into Username

and Domain Name
Text to Columns allows you to choose your own delimiter to split
text.

This can be used to split emails addresses into usernames and

domain names as these are separated by the @ sign.

Suppose you have a dataset as shown below:

These are some fictional email ids of some cool superheroes
(except myself, I am just a regular wasting-time-on-Netflix kinda
guy).

Here are the steps to split these usernames and domain names
using the Text to Columns feature.

 Select the data set.

 Go to Data → Data Tools → Text to Columns. This will open

the Convert Text to Columns Wizard.

 In Step 1, make sure Delimited is selected (which is also the

default selection). Click on Next.

 In Step 2, select Other and enter @ in the box to the right of

it. Make sure to deselect any other option (if checked). Click
on Next.
 Change the destination cell to the one where you want the
result.
  Click on Finish.

This would split the email address and give you the first name
and the last name in separate cells.

Also read: How to Combine 2 Cells in Excel

Example 3 – Get the Root Domain from

URL
If you work with web URLs, you may sometimes need to know the
total number of unique root domains.

For example, in case

of http://www.google.com/example1 and http://google.com/examp
le2, the root domain is the same, which is www.google.com

Suppose you have a dataset as shown below:

Here are the steps to get the root domain from these URLs:

 Select the data set.

 Go to Data → Data Tools → Text to Columns. This will open

the Convert Text to Columns Wizard.

 In Step 1, make sure Delimited is selected (which is also the

default selection). Click on Next.
 In Step 2, select Other and enter / (forward slash) in the box
to the right of it. Make sure to deselect any other option (if
checked). Click on Next.

 Change the destination cell to the one where you want the
result.
  Click on Finish.

This would split the URL and give you the root domain (in the
third column as there were two forward slashes before it).

Now if you want to find the number of unique domains,

just remove the duplicates.

Note: This works well when you have all the URLs that have
http:// in the beginning. If it doesn’t, then you will get the root
domain in the first column itself. A good practice is to make these
URLs consistent before using Text to Columns.

Example 4 – Convert Invalid Date Formats

Into Valid Date Formats
If you get your data from databases such as SAP/Oracle/Capital
IQ, or you import it from a text file, there is a possibility that the
date format is incorrect (i.e., a format that Excel does not consider
as date).
There are only a couple of formats that Excel can understand,
and any other format needs to be converted into a valid format to
be used in Excel.

Suppose you have dates in the below format (which are not in the
valid Excel date format).

Here are the steps to convert these into valid date formats:

 Select the data set.

 Go to Data → Data Tools → Text to Columns. This will open

the Convert Text to Columns Wizard.

 In Step 1, make sure Delimited is selected (which is also the

default selection). Click on Next.
 In Step 2, make sure NO delimiter option is selected. Click
on Next.
  In the Column data format, select Date, and select the
format you want (DMY would mean date month and year).
Also, change the destination cell to the one where you want
the result.

 Click on Finish.

This would instantly convert these invalid date formats into valid
date formats that you can use in Excel.

Example 5 – Convert Text to Numbers

Sometimes when you import data from databases or other file
formats, the numbers are converted into text format.

There are several ways this can happen:

  Having an apostrophe before the number. This leads to the
number being treated as text.

 Getting numbers as a result of text functions such as LEFT,

RIGHT, or MID.

The problem with this is that these numbers (which are in text
format) are ignored by Excel functions such as SUM and
AVERAGE.

Suppose you have a dataset as shown below where the numbers

are in the text format (note that these are aligned to the left).

Here are the steps to use Text to Columns to convert text to

numbers

 Select the data set.

 Go to Data → Data Tools → Text to Columns. This will open

the Convert Text to Columns Wizard.

 In Step 1, make sure Delimited is selected (which is also the

default selection). Click on Next.
 In Step 2, make sure NO delimiter option is selected. Click
on Next.
  In the Column data format, select General. Also, change the
destination cell to the one where you want the result.

 Click on Finish.

This would convert these numbers back into General format that
can now be used in formulas.

Example 6 – Extract the First Five

Characters of a String
Sometimes you may need to extract the first few characters of a
string.

These could be the case when you have transactional data, and
the first five characters (or any other number of characters)
represent a unique identifier.
For example, in the data set shown below, the first five characters
are unique to a product line.

Here are the steps to quickly extract the first five characters from
this data using Text to Columns:

 Select the data set.

 Go to Data → Data Tools → Text to Columns. This will open

the Convert Text to Columns Wizard.

 In Step 1, make sure Fixed Width is selected. Click on Next.

 In Step 2, in the Data preview section, drag the vertical line
and place it after 5 characters in the text. Click on Next.
  Change the destination cell to the one where you want the
result.

 Click on Finish.

This would split your data set and give you the first five characters
of each transaction id in one column and rest all in the second
column.
Note: You can set more than one vertical line as well to split the
data into more than 2 columns. Just click anywhere in the Data
Preview area and drag the cursor to set the divider.

Example 7 – Convert Numbers with

Trailing Minus Sign to negative numbers
While this is not something that may encounter often, but
sometimes, you may find yourself fixing the numbers with trailing
minus signs and making these numbers negative.

Text to Columns is the perfect way to get this sorted.

Suppose you have a dataset as shown below:

Here are the steps to convert these trailing minuses into negative
numbers:

 Select the data set.

 Go to Data → Data Tools → Text to Columns. This will open

the Convert Text to Columns Wizard.

 In Step 1, click on ‘Next’.

 In Step 2, click on ‘Next’.

 In Step 3, click on Advanced button.

  In the Advanced Text Import Settings dialog box, select the
‘Trailing minus for negative number’ option. Click OK.

 Set the destination cell.

 Click on Finish.

This would instantly place the minus sign from the end of the
number of the beginning of it. Now you can easily use these
numbers in formulas and calculations.
You May Also Like the Following Excel Tutorials:
 CONCATENATE Excel Ranges (with and without separator)

 Excel AUTOFIT: Make Rows/Columns Fit the Text

Automatically
 How to Transpose Data in Excel.

 How to Split Cells in Excel.

 How to Merge Cells in Excel the Right Way.

 How to Find Merged Cells in Excel (and get rid of it)

 How to Remove Time from Date in Excel

 How to Convert Text to Date in Excel