How to Split Cells in Google Sheets: Full Guide Today

Splitting Cells in Google Sheets: From Manual Tricks to AI Automation

Most people learn to split cells in Google Sheets the hard way: one column at a time, scrolling through an ocean of data. It works—until your next export lands and you’re doing it all over again. This guide walks through the best ways to split cells, from simple manual tricks to fully automated pipelines powered by AI agents.

1. Manual Split: Data → Split Text to Columns

Use this when you have a single column of text that follows a clear pattern (commas, spaces, semicolons).

Steps:

1. Select the cells you want to split.
2. In the top menu, click Data → Split text to columns.
3. At the bottom of the selection, open the separator dropdown.
4. Choose Comma, Space, Semicolon, Custom, or Detect automatically.
5. Sheets instantly spills the pieces into adjacent columns.

Pros:

• Very fast for one-off cleanup.
• No formulas to remember.
• Great for basic CSV-style data.

Cons:

• Not dynamic: change the source cell and nothing updates.
• Easy to overwrite neighboring columns if you forget to insert space first.
• Must repeat the steps every time new data arrives.

2. Formula Method: The SPLIT Function

When you need something repeatable, SPLIT is your friend.

Basic syntax:

=SPLIT(text, delimiter, [split_by_each], [remove_empty_text])


Examples:

• Split full name into first and last
  • A2 contains "John Doe"
  • In B2, enter: =SPLIT(A2, " ")
  • Output: John in B2, Doe in C2
• Split emails into user and domain
  • A2 contains "alex@agency.com"
  • In B2, use: =SPLIT(A2, "@")
  • Output: alex and agency.com in separate cells

Pros:

• Dynamic: outputs update when source data changes.
• Can drag formulas down thousands of rows.
• Works well with TRIM, ARRAYFORMULA, REGEXREPLACE, etc.

Cons:

• Intimidating for non-technical teammates.
• Complex patterns can be hard to debug.
• Still requires setup and maintenance if data shapes change.

3. Power Moves: ARRAYFORMULA and Regex

For marketers and analysts dealing with big ranges:

• Wrap SPLIT inside ARRAYFORMULA to apply to a whole column without copying formulas:

=ARRAYFORMULA(SPLIT(A2:A, ","))


• Pre-clean data with REGEXREPLACE before splitting (for weird delimiters or mixed content).

These tricks make Sheets feel more like a data pipeline, but still demand comfort with formulas.

4. At Scale: Automating Splits With an AI Agent

Manual methods break down when:

• You download new CSVs daily.
• Each client or campaign uses slightly different formats.
• Your team keeps making copy‑paste errors.

This is where an AI computer agent, like a Simular agent, changes the game. Instead of hard-coding formulas or writing Apps Script, you:

1. Describe the job in plain language

“Whenever a new export hits this Google Drive folder, open it in Google Sheets, split column A into first name, last name, and company using commas, then save a cleaned version in the ‘Ready for CRM’ folder.”

1. Let the agent use the actual interface
   • Clicks Data → Split text to columns, inserts safe buffer columns, or writes SPLIT formulas—just like a human would—but reliably thousands of times.
2. Chain tasks into workflows
   • After splitting, the agent can validate row counts, color-code bad rows, or paste results into a master report.

Pros of AI-driven automation:

• No need to maintain brittle formulas or scripts.
• Works across desktop, browser, and cloud tools.
• Transparent: every action is visible and auditable.
• Scales to tens of thousands of rows and recurring imports.

Cons:

• Best payoff for recurring or high-volume work.
• Requires upfront time to define workflow and edge cases.

5. Choosing the Right Approach

• Use Split text to columns for quick, one-time cleanups.
• Use SPLIT + ARRAYFORMULA when you want in-sheet logic that updates as data changes.
• Use an AI agent when splitting cells is part of a larger, repetitive workflow you never want to touch manually again.

Once “just fixing the sheet” quietly eats hours every week, it’s time to hand that work to an agent and keep your human attention on strategy, not separators.