Google Sheets function
SPLIT function in Google Sheets
SPLIT in Google Sheets divides text around a delimiter and puts each fragment into a separate cell across the row. By default, every character in the delimiter is considered separately and empty fragments are removed. Optional settings can change both behaviors for multi-character delimiters or repeated separators.
Source: Google Docs Editors HelpLast verified Nov 5, 2026
Syntax
=SPLIT(text, delimiter, [split_by_each], [remove_empty_text])Arguments
| Argument | Required | What it means |
|---|---|---|
text | Yes | The text to divide. |
delimiter | Yes | The character or characters that mark each split. |
split_by_each | No | Whether each delimiter character is handled separately. The default is TRUE. |
remove_empty_text | No | Whether empty fragments are removed. The default is TRUE. |
Examples
Separate a first and last name
| A | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Full name |
| 2 | Ava Chen |
=SPLIT(A2," ")Result: Ava | Chen
SPLIT divides the text at the space and returns two cells.
Common mistakes
Using a multi-character delimiter without considering split_by_each.
Set split_by_each to FALSE when the full delimiter string should stay together.
Expecting the delimiter to remain in the output.
SPLIT removes the delimiter characters from the returned fragments.