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Excel: Using Excel's Text to Columns feature (Microsoft Excel) - November 2006 |
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To be able to use any of Excel's excellent List Management features any data you want to work with must be in separate columns. For example, if you want to sort over last name and then first name each of these names must be in a separate column. Don't worry if you haven't typed the data in separate columns, Excel's Text to Columns feature will separate it for you. |
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Introduction
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For the purpose of this exercise let's assume that you have typed in many names in one column using the format: Title Firstname Lastname, for example: Mr. Fred Bloggs You want to sort or filer these names in Excel but to be able to do so the names must be in separate columns. |
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Before you start
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Before you use the Text to Columns feature to separate the text make sure you have enough blank columns to the right of the column you are going to separate. The example we are using will produce two more columns. Use the Insert menu to insert as many columns are you need. |
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Text to Columns
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Now, highlight the column you wish to separate. The easiest way to do this is to click the header button at the top of the column with the column letter on it. Excel then selects the entire column. From the Data menu choose Text to Columns. The Text to Columns Wizard will appear. In the first step make sure Delimited is selected and then click the Next button. In Step 2 of the wizard choose the character that separates your text. The default in this dialog box is Tab, and you will normally have to switch this off and choose Space. Watch the preview area in this dialog box to get an idea of how your data will look. Click the Next button and in Step 3 of the Wizard you can choose a format for your new columns if required. Choose Finish to place the data back on the worksheet in separate columns. |
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