How to Separate Cell Data in Excel

If you have some cell data in a Microsoft Excel worksheet that needs to be separated, you can do so automatically using the "Convert Text to Columns Wizard." This wizard allows you to easily separate cell content into multiple columns. A good example of when you might need to do this is if you have full names in one cell and you want to separate them into two separate cells.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Microsoft Excel 2007

1. Start Microsoft Excel and open an existing workbook that contains cells with data you'd like to separate.
2. Select the cells containing data you want to separate by clicking and dragging or using the SHIFT or CTRL keys on your keyboard.
3. Click the "Data" tab at the top of the screen to display the "Data" ribbon.
4. Select the "Text to Columns" button to display the "Convert Text to Columns Wizard" dialog box.
5. Choose the "Delimited" selection to separate the data by looking for commas or tabs or choose the "Fixed width" selection to separate the data by looking for spaces. You will be able to see a preview of the selected data below these two choices. Click the "Next" button to move to the next screen of the wizard.
6. Set the column breaks for the selected data by clicking at the point in the preview that you want to add a column. Double-click any column break lines to delete them, and move a break line by clicking and dragging it. Click the "Next" button when you are finished setting the column breaks for your data.
7. Choose a column data format depending on the type of data you are separating, and then choose a destination where you want the new data to appear.
8. Click the "Finish" button to close the "Convert Text to Columns Wizard" and separate the selected cell data.

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