How to split a cell in Google Sheets

You can watch a video tutorial here.

When formatting tables in Google Sheets, you may need to merge cells to properly label the data and to make it look neater. When cells are merged in Google Sheets, only the data in the top left cell is retained and the data in the other cells are lost. Having merged some cells, you may want to ‘unmerge’ the cells or split the merged cell. Only cells that have been merged can be split.

Option 1 – Split a cell into rows

Step 1 – Select the cell

• Select the cell that is to be split

Step 2 – Navigate to the merge button

• On the ribbon, expand the Select merge type dropdown

Step 3 – Unmerge the cell

• Choose Unmerge 

Step 4 – Copy the data

• Copy and paste the data into the new rows

Option 2 – Split a cell into columns

Step 1 – Select the cell

• Select the cell that is to be split

Step 2 – Navigate to the merge button

• On the ribbon, expand the Select merge type dropdown

Step 3 – Unmerge the cell

• Choose Unmerge 

Step 4 – Check the result

• The cell is split into 2 columns