Converting text into columns

When pasting information into a spreadsheet, or perhaps opening a text file, you sometimes get data in a single column that you’d like to split into several columns. You can make this conversion using the Text to Columns wizard.

To start the wizard, select Text to Columns from the Data Menu. You will be asked to choose between:

Fixed – each data field is of fixed width with differences in text padded out with spaces. The data would typically look something like this imagined banking information:

123

1-1-2004

Mortgage payment

680.00

124

4-1-2004

Bank fee

10.00

125

5-1-2004

Southern Electric DD

55.23

Delimited – each data field is separated by the same character usually a comma. For example:

123, 1-1-2004, Mortgage payment, 680.00
124
, 4-1-2004, Bank fee, 10.00
125, 5-1-2004, Southern Electric DD, 55.23

Check the Ignore Blank Lines box if you want blank lines in the data to be closed up after conversion.

For the next step, see

Text to columns - Fixed

Text to columns - Delimited