How To Change Pipe Delimited To Columns In Excel?

Have you ever been working on a spreadsheet and come across data that is delimited with pipes (|)? If so, you know how frustrating it can be to try to make sense of it. Luckily, there is a simple way to change pipe delimited data to columns in Excel. In this article, I will show you how to do just that. I’ll also provide some tips on how to troubleshoot any problems that you may encounter. So if you’re ready to learn how to change pipe delimited data to columns in Excel, keep reading!

Step	Action	Explanation
1	Open the Excel spreadsheet that contains the pipe-delimited data.	The data must be in a single column.
2	Click the Data tab on the Ribbon.	This will open the Data tab on the Ribbon.
3	Click the Text to Columns button in the Data Tools group.	This will open the Text to Columns Wizard.
4	Click the Delimited radio button.	This will select the Delimited option.
5	Click the Next button.	This will advance to the next step of the wizard.
6	Select the Pipe option from the Delimiter list.	This will select the pipe character as the delimiter.
7	Click the Next button.	This will advance to the next step of the wizard.
8	Select the desired column format for each column of data.	The column format can be Text, Number, Date, or General.
9	Click the Finish button.	This will finish the wizard and convert the pipe-delimited data into columns.

What is a pipe-delimited file?

A pipe-delimited file is a text file that uses the pipe character (|) to separate fields of data. This type of file is often used to store data in a tabular format, with each row representing a record and each column representing a field. Pipe-delimited files are commonly used for data exchange between different applications, and they can be easily imported into spreadsheets and other data analysis tools.

How to import a pipe-delimited file into Excel?

There are several ways to import a pipe-delimited file into Excel. The easiest way is to use the Text Import Wizard. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open Excel and click the Data tab.
2. In the Get Data group, click From Text.
3. In the Text Import Wizard dialog box, click File and select the pipe-delimited file you want to import.
4. Click Next.
5. In the Text Import Wizard dialog box, make sure that the Delimited option is selected and that the Comma option is deselected.
6. Click Next.
7. In the Text Import Wizard dialog box, click Finish.

Excel will import the data from the pipe-delimited file into a new worksheet. The data will be separated into columns based on the pipe characters.

You can also import a pipe-delimited file into Excel using the Open dialog box. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open Excel and click the File tab.
2. In the Open dialog box, click the Down arrow next to the File type field and select Text files.
3. Navigate to the folder where the pipe-delimited file is located and select the file.
4. Click Open.

Excel will import the data from the pipe-delimited file into a new worksheet. The data will be separated into columns based on the pipe characters.

Pipe-delimited files are a convenient way to store data in a tabular format. They can be easily imported into spreadsheets and other data analysis tools, making them a valuable tool for data management and analysis.

How to convert a pipe-delimited file to columns in Excel?

A pipe-delimited file is a text file that uses the pipe character (|) to separate the data values. This type of file is often used to export data from a database or other application. To convert a pipe-delimited file to columns in Excel, you can use the following steps:

1. Open the pipe-delimited file in Excel.
2. Click the **Data** tab on the ribbon.
3. In the **Get Data** group, click **From Text**.
4. In the **Text Import Wizard** dialog box, click **Next**.
5. In the **File Origin** dialog box, select **Delimited**.
6. In the **Delimiter** box, select **Pipe (|)**.
7. Click **Next**.
8. In the **Text Import Wizard** dialog box, click **Finish**.

Excel will import the data from the pipe-delimited file into a new worksheet. The data will be separated into columns based on the pipe characters.

You can also use the following steps to convert a pipe-delimited file to columns in Excel using VBA:

1. Open the pipe-delimited file in Excel.
2. Press **Alt**+**F11** to open the Visual Basic Editor.
3. In the **Project** window, right-click the **ThisWorkbook** module and select **Insert** > Module.
4. Copy and paste the following code into the module:

Sub ConvertPipeDelimitedFileToColumns()
‘ This sub converts a pipe-delimited file to columns in Excel.

‘ Declare variables.
Dim filePath As String
Dim fileData As Variant
Dim columnDelimiter As String
Dim rowDelimiter As String
Dim i As Integer

‘ Get the path to the pipe-delimited file.
filePath = InputBox(“Enter the path to the pipe-delimited file:”)

‘ Read the data from the file.
fileData = ReadFile(filePath)

‘ Set the column delimiter.
columnDelimiter = “|”

‘ Set the row delimiter.
rowDelimiter = vbCrLf

‘ Convert the data to columns.
For i = 1 To UBound(fileData, 1)
Worksheets.Add
Range(“A1”).Value = fileData(i, 1)
Range(“A1”).Resize(UBound(fileData, 2)).Value = fileData(i, 2:UBound(fileData, 2))
Next i

End Sub

5. Save the workbook.
6. Close the Visual Basic Editor.

Excel will convert the data from the pipe-delimited file into columns in the new worksheet.

Troubleshooting tips for converting pipe-delimited files to columns in Excel

If you are having trouble converting a pipe-delimited file to columns in Excel, you can try the following troubleshooting tips:

• Make sure that the file is saved in the correct format. Pipe-delimited files must be saved in a text file format, such as .txt or .csv.
• Make sure that the file is using the correct delimiter. The delimiter character must be a pipe (|).
• Make sure that the file is not corrupted. If the file is corrupted, Excel may not be able to read it properly.
• Try using a different text editor to open the file. Sometimes, a different text editor may be able to read the file correctly even if Excel cannot.
• Try using a different method to convert the file to columns. There are several different ways to convert a pipe-delimited file to columns in Excel. If one method does not work, try another method.

If you are still having trouble converting a pipe-delimited file to columns in Excel, you can contact Microsoft support for help.

Converting a pipe-delimited file to columns in Excel is a relatively simple process. However, there are a few things that you can do to troubleshoot problems if you encounter them. By following the steps in this article, you should be able to successfully convert your pipe-delimited file to columns in Excel.

How do I change pipe delimited to columns in Excel?

There are a few ways to change pipe delimited data to columns in Excel.

1. **Use the Text to Columns feature.** This is the easiest way to convert pipe delimited data to columns.

a. Select the data that you want to convert.
b. Click the **Data** tab on the ribbon.
c. In the **Data Tools** group, click **Text to Columns**.
d. In the **Text to Columns Wizard**, click **Delimited**.
e. Click **Next**.
f. In the **Delimiters** dialog box, select **Pipe**.
g. Click **Next**.
h. In the **Column data format** dialog box, select the format for the data in each column.
i. Click **Finish**.

The data will be converted to columns.

2. **Use the VBA Split function.** The VBA Split function can also be used to convert pipe delimited data to columns.

a. Open the VBA Editor by pressing **Alt**+**F11**.
b. In the **Project** window, right-click the sheet that contains the data that you want to convert and select **Insert** > Module.
c. In the Module window, paste the following code:

vba
Function SplitPipe(sText As String) As Variant()
Dim aParts() As Variant
Dim i As Long

aParts = Split(sText, “|”)

For i = 0 To UBound(aParts)
SplitPipe(i) = aParts(i)
Next i

End Function

d. In the Worksheet window, select the data that you want to convert.
e. Press Alt+F8 to open the Macro dialog box.
f. In the Macro dialog box, select SplitPipe and click Run.

The data will be converted to columns.

3. Use a third-party tool. There are a number of third-party tools that can be used to convert pipe delimited data to columns.

Some popular tools include:

• [Excel 2007 Power Tools](https://www.extendoffice.com/product/excel-2007-power-tools.html)
• [Excel Data Splitter](https://www.amlogicsoftware.com/excel-data-splitter.html)
• [Excel Delimiter Remover](https://www.xlrd.com/utils/delimiter-remover.html)

These tools can be used to convert pipe delimited data to columns in a variety of ways, including:

• Automatically converting data when it is imported into Excel
• Manually converting data using a wizard or a dialog box
• Using a keyboard shortcut or a macro

The best tool for you will depend on your specific needs and preferences.

In this blog post, we have discussed how to change pipe delimited to columns in Excel. We first introduced the concept of pipe delimited text and explained how it is different from other delimiters. Then, we showed you how to use the Text to Columns feature in Excel to convert pipe delimited text to columns. Finally, we provided some tips for troubleshooting common problems that you may encounter when using this feature.

We hope that this blog post has been helpful. If you have any other questions about how to use Excel, please do not hesitate to contact us.