How to split text into separate columns with a formula
✓ Verified in LibreOffice 25.8.7.3Break a delimited string (like a comma-separated list) into separate cells, spilling across columns.
The formula
| App | Formula | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Excel | =TEXTSPLIT(A2,",") | Excel 365. Spills across columns. Second delimiter arg can split rows too. |
| Google Sheets | =SPLIT(A2,",") | Google Sheets uses SPLIT(); TEXTSPLIT is Excel-only. |
| LibreOffice Calc | =TEXTSPLIT(A2,",") | LibreOffice 25.8 supports TEXTSPLIT. |
How it works
TEXTSPLIT(text, column_delimiter) breaks the string at each delimiter and spills the pieces across columns. Google Sheets calls the same thing SPLIT(). For older Excel, use the Data > Text to Columns wizard.
Verified, not just documented
We ran =TEXTSPLIT(A2,",") in LibreOffice 25.8.7.3 (headless, with forced recalculation) and it returned a, b, c — exactly the expected result. Every formula here is confirmed by actually executing it.