Text to columns in Excel - Cell-by-Cell Formula Trace

Sample Data

This data shows three people with their first name, last name, and age all in one cell separated by commas.

Cell	Value
A1	John,Smith,30
A2	Jane,Doe,25
A3	Bob,Johnson,40

Formula Trace

Text to Columns using comma delimiter on column A

Step 1: Select column A cells A1:A3

Step 2: Apply Text to Columns with comma as delimiter

Step 3: Result in columns A, B, and C

Cell Reference Map

    A               B         C
1 | John,Smith,30 -> John | Smith | 30
2 | Jane,Doe,25   -> Jane | Doe   | 25
3 | Bob,Johnson,40-> Bob  | Johnson| 40

Column A cells are split into columns A, B, and C using the comma delimiter.

Result

    A       B        C
1 | John  | Smith  | 30
2 | Jane  | Doe    | 25
3 | Bob   | Johnson| 40

After Text to Columns, each piece of data is in its own cell: first name in A, last name in B, and age in C.

Sheet Trace Quiz - 3 Questions

What delimiter is used to split the text in this example?

A Space ( )

B Comma (,)

C Semicolon (;)

D Tab

Key Result

Text to Columns splits text in one cell into multiple columns based on a chosen delimiter.