MS Excel: How to use the SPLIT Function (VBA)

This Excel tutorial explains how to use the Excel SPLIT function with syntax and examples.

Description

The Microsoft Excel SPLIT function will split a string into substrings based on a delimiter. The result is returned as an array of substrings.

The SPLIT function is a built-in function in Excel that is categorized as a String/Text Function. It can be used as a VBA function (VBA) in Excel. As a VBA function, you can use this function in macro code that is entered through the Microsoft Visual Basic Editor.

Syntax

The syntax for the SPLIT function in Microsoft Excel is:

Split ( expression [,delimiter] [,limit] [,compare] )

Parameters or Arguments

expression

The string to split into substrings based on a delimiter.

delimiter

Optional. The delimiter used to split expression into substrings. If not specified, the delimiter will default to a space character.

limit

Optional. The maximum number of substrings split from expression. If not specified, the limit will default to -1 which will split out all substrings.

compare

Optional. This is the type of comparison to perform when parsing the substrings and can be one of the following:

VBA Constant	Value	Explanation
CompareMethod.Binary	0	Binary comparison
CompareMethod.Text	1	Textual comparison

Returns

The SPLIT function returns an array of string values.

Applies To

• Excel for Office 365, Excel 2019, Excel 2016, Excel 2013, Excel 2011 for Mac, Excel 2010, Excel 2007, Excel 2003, Excel XP, Excel 2000

Type of Function

• VBA function (VBA)

Example (as VBA Function)

The SPLIT function can only be used in VBA code in Microsoft Excel.

Let's look at some Excel SPLIT function examples and explore how to use the SPLIT function in Excel VBA code:

Split("Tech on the Net")
Result: {"Tech", "on", "the", "Net"}

Split("172.23.56.4", ".")
Result: {"172", "23", "56", "4"}

Split("A;B;C;D", ";")
Result: {"A", "B", "C", "D"}

Split("A;B;C;D", ";", 1)
Result: {"A;B;C;D"}

Split("A;B;C;D", ";", 2)
Result: {"A", "B;C;D"}

Split("A;B;C;D", ";", 3)
Result: {"A", "B", "C;D"}

Split("A;B;C;D", ";", 4)
Result: {"A", "B", "C", "D"}

For example:

Dim LString As String
Dim LArray() As String

LString = "TechOnTheNet.com"
LArray = Split(LString, ".")

MsgBox LArray(0)
MsgBox LArray(1)

In this example, the variable called LArray would now contain the array {"TechOnTheNet", "com"}. The two MsgBox statements would display the value stored in each element of the array.