Convert Text to Tables : Office Excel 2007

Sometimes you may find different types of information within the same piece of text, where the only thing separating the information is a space. Microsoft Office Excel makes it easy to redistribute this data by using different columns, and to display the data in a more digestible format.

1. Choose delimiters and column separators.

a. Select the cells containing the data that you want to separate.

b. On the Data ribbon, in the Data Tools section, click the Text to Columns button.

c. Select your preferred data type (that is, Delimited or Fixed width) from the options in the first step presented by the wizard.

d. In the second step of the wizard, select your preferred delimiters from the DelimitersFixed width options.


2. Define the data format of your new columns.

a. In the dialog box of the wizard’s third step, select one column at a time and define its data format by clicking your preferred option under Column data format.

b. Click the Finish button. The text chains will now be distributed into columns according to your chosen data format.