It then extracts all the characters to the left of it by using the LEFT function. In the case of Bruce Wayne, the space character is in the 6th position. This formula uses the SEARCH function to get the position of the space character. This formula would spot the first space character and then return all the text before that space character: To get the first name from this list, use the following formula: =LEFT(A2,SEARCH(" ",A2)-1) Suppose you have the same data as shown below: Splitting Names that have a First Name and Last Name
While the Text to Column feature gives a static result, the result that you get from using functions is dynamic and would automatically update when you change the original data. Split Cells in Excel Using Text FunctionsĮxcel Text functions are great when you want to slice and dice text strings. This means that if there are any changes in the original data, you’ll have to repeat the process to get updated results.
In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to split cells in Excel using the following techniques: