How to Split Text into Multiple Lines in Excel and Google Sheets

Have you ever struggled with trying to break down text into multiple lines in Excel or Google Sheets? Whether you have a single cell or multiple cells containing text, there are features that make it easy to split text into multiple lines.

Splitting Text into Lines

If you have text in a single cell and it is separated by a specific character (such as space, tab, semicolon, etc.), you can use the “Text to Columns” and “Transpose” features in Excel to split it into multiple lines.

Here’s how to do it:

1. First, select a cell that contains the text you want to split (e.g., B1) and go to “Data > Text to Columns” in the ribbon.

2. In the “Text to Columns” Wizard, leave the default file type as “Delimited” and click Next.

3. At Step 2, check “Semicolon” under “Delimiters” and click Next. You can see in the data preview how the text will be delimited. Other possible delimiters include tab, comma, space, and a user-defined delimiter.

4. In the final step, leave the default data format as “General” and click Finish. You can also choose other data types like text or date. You can also select individual columns in the data preview and change their data types. For “Destination,” leave the original cell to split the data into columns starting from cell B1.

After this step, the text in cell B1 is split into columns B-F, at each semicolon.

5. Now, use the “Transpose” feature to transpose the values from row 1 to column B. Start with cell B1 (so that the current value of B1 remains in place) and transpose cells C1:F1. To do this, select the cells to transpose (C1:F1), right-click and click “Copy” (or use the CTRL + C keyboard shortcut).

6. Select the cell where you want to start the transposed data (e.g., B2), right-click, and choose “Transpose” in the paste options.

Finally, the values from cell B1 are now transposed into column B, cells B1:B6. The original list is now split into lines.

Splitting Multiple Cells into Lines

If you have data in multiple cells, you can also split the text into lines in the same way as with a single cell.

Here are the steps to follow:

1. First, select the cells containing the text you want to split (e.g., B1:B3) and go to “Data > Text to Columns” in the ribbon.

2. In the “Text to Columns” Wizard, leave the default file type as “Delimited” and click Next.

3. At Step 2, check “Semicolon” under “Delimiters” and click Next.

4. In the final step, leave the default data format as “General” and click Finish.

After this step, the text in cells B1:B3 is split at each semicolon into columns B-F.

5. Now, transpose the data from rows 1 to 3 into columns B-D. Since the data is on multiple rows, you need to transpose to a new range (and later delete the original data range). Select the cells to transpose (B1:F3), right-click, and click “Copy” (or use the CTRL + C keyboard shortcut).

6. Select the cell where you want to start the transposed data (e.g., B5), choose “Paste Special,” and click “Transpose.”

Finally, the values from cells B1:B3 are now transposed into columns B-D, cells B5:D9. You can delete the original data in cells B1:F3.

Note: You can also use VBA code to split text into columns.

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Splitting Text into Lines in Google Sheets

You can also use the “Split Text to Columns” and “Transpose” features to split text into multiple lines in Google Sheets.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Right-click on a cell containing the text (e.g., B1) and go to “Data > Split Text to Columns.”

2. Click on the “Separator” button that appears and choose “Semicolon.”

After this step, the text in cell B1 is now split into columns B:F, using semicolon as the separator.

3. Now, you can use the “Transpose” feature to transpose the values from row 1 to column B. Start with cell B1 (so that the value of B1 remains in place) and transpose cells C1:F1. To do this, select the cells to transpose (C1:F1), right-click, and click “Copy” (or use the CTRL + C keyboard shortcut).

4. Select the cell where you want to start the transposed data (e.g., B2), right-click, choose “Paste Special,” and click “Paste Values Transpose.”

Finally, the values from cell B1 are now transposed into column B, cells B1:B6. The original list is now split into lines.

Splitting Multiple Cells into Lines in Google Sheets

Now, you can split multiple cells into lines using the same example.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Select the cells containing the text you want to split (e.g., B1:B3) and go to “Data > Split Text to Columns.”

2. Click on the “Separator” button that appears and choose “Semicolon.”

After this step, the text in cells B1:B3 is split at each semicolon into columns B-F.

3. Now, transpose the data from rows 1 to 3 into columns B-D. Since the data is on multiple rows, you need to transpose to a new range (and later delete the original data range). Select the cells to transpose (B1:F3), right-click, and click “Copy” (or use the CTRL + C keyboard shortcut).

4. Select the cell where you want to start the transposed data (e.g., B5), choose “Paste Special,” and click “Paste Values Transpose.”

Finally, the values from cells B1:B3 are now transposed into columns B-D, cells B5:D9. You can delete the original data in cells B1:F3.

Note: You can also use advanced formulas to split text into columns in Google Sheets.

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