Excel: Separate names - with this function it works

If you have a list of names in your data set and want to separate first and last names, the easiest and fastest way to do this is with the help of Microsoft Excel's Text Conversion Wizard. Learn here how to proceed in Excel to split text into multiple cells.

Separate first and last name: How to do it

If your dataset contains a list of names where the respective first and last names are in one cell, you can use the Text Conversion Wizard to separate them and split them into separate cells if needed.Follow these steps to separate names with the Text Conversion Tool:

1. Start Excel and open the file containing the list of names you want to split.
2. Mark the names with the left mouse button.
3. Switch to the "Data" tab and click on the "Text in Column" option in the "Data Tools" category.
4. Check the box at the "Split" option and press "Next".
5. Select "Comma" and "Space" as separators, respectively, the options that apply to your list and click "Next" again. Below the settings you can see in the "Data Preview" how your changes will affect.
6. Select either "Standard" or "Text" as data format.
7. Then specify the target area where the names should be displayed after splitting.
8. Finally click "Finish".

Alternative to the Text Conversion Wizard

In addition to the Text Conversion Wizard, you can also separate the names using the LEFT, CENTER and RIGHT text functions. Note that splitting names using formulas is quite a bit more complicated and time-consuming than using the wizard.