How do I separate first and last names in Google Sheets?

Install Cellwell, select the column of names, open Extensions > Cellwell > Split names, tick the parts you want (title, first, middle, last, suffix, nickname) and press Preview, then Apply. It handles Last, First order, initials, particles like van and de la, and suffixes like Jr. and PhD, and puts the parts in new columns.

How do I split text to columns without losing leading zeros?

Cellwell's Split text keeps every part as typed text by default, so 00123 stays 00123. Pick the delimiters, preview, then apply; results go into new columns next to the original.

How do I merge two columns in Google Sheets and keep the data?

Select the columns, open Extensions > Cellwell > Merge values, pick a separator, preview and apply. The merged text goes into a new column, and values keep the formats your sheet shows, including your currency and date style.

Will Cellwell overwrite my formulas?

No. Cellwell reads what a formula shows but never writes over a formula cell, and the preview tells you how many it left alone.

Split names, split text, merge columns and change case in Google Sheets

Cellwell does the text jobs Sheets makes you write formulas for, right in your cells. Every change is previewed first, formulas are never overwritten, and Undo is always there.

Email us to get Cellwell See pricing Cellwell splitting a column of full names into title, first, middle, last and suffix columns, with a preview of each row

What it does

Split names

Title, first, middle, last, suffix and nickname. Handles "Smith, John", "Dr. Mary Ann O'Brien, PhD", "Ludwig van Beethoven" and names typed in ALL CAPS.

Split text to columns

By commas, semicolons, spaces, line breaks or your own delimiters, by position, before capitals, or between letters and numbers. Leading zeros kept.

Merge values

Join columns row by row, or a column into one cell, with any separator. Your currency and date formats come along as they show.

Change case

Sentence, Title, Capitalize Each Word, UPPER, lower and Name Case (McDonald, O'Brien). Keeps NASA and iPhone.

Clean text

Extra and non-breaking spaces, invisible characters, line breaks in cells, curly quotes, accents and HTML.

Add, remove, extract

Add text anywhere; remove characters or text; pull out emails, links, phone numbers, numbers, hashtags or your own pattern.

Random data

Numbers, dates, TRUE/FALSE, list picks, codes and UUIDs. Unique means unique, and a code that should have digits always has one.

Preview and Undo

See every change first. Undo any run from History, even after closing the sheet. Cells you edited since are left alone.

How to separate first and last names in Google Sheets

Select the column of names (or just click in it), open Extensions > Cellwell > Split names, tick First name and Last name (and Middle, Title or Suffix if you want them), and press Preview. Each row shows the parts it will get. Apply inserts the new columns to the right of the names; the original column stays unless you choose to replace it.

How to split text to columns and keep leading zeros

Open Split text, tick the delimiters (comma, semicolon, space, line break, or type your own like " - "), and preview. Parts stay exactly as typed, so zip codes and IDs like 00123 keep their zeros. Text inside "double quotes" is never split. Tick "Let Sheets recognize numbers and dates" when you want numbers back.

How to merge two columns and keep the data

Select the columns, open Merge values, pick a separator (space, comma, line break or your own) and preview. The result goes into a new column after the selection, and every value is joined the way your sheet shows it: £1,250.50 stays £1,250.50 and 14/03/2026 stays 14/03/2026.

Formulas and your data are safe

Formulas are never overwritten. Cellwell reads what a formula shows, but never writes over it.
New results go into new columns, so nothing you have is overwritten unless you pick an in-place option.
If the cells change between your preview and Apply, Cellwell stops and asks you to preview again.
Undo puts back only cells that still hold what Cellwell wrote, and removes added columns only if nobody typed in them.

Pricing

Free trial: 30 days or 50 Apply runs, whichever comes first. No card needed. One Apply counts once however many cells it changes. Previews and Undo are always free, during and after the trial.

$15 / month

One Google account. Cancel any time.

$50 / year

One Google account. 12 months for less than the price of 4.

$100 once

Lifetime license for one Google account. No renewal.

Renewal: monthly and yearly plans renew automatically until you cancel in Extensions > Cellwell > Plans and billing (Manage billing). You keep access until the end of the period you paid for. The lifetime license is a single payment.

UK and EU customers: you can cancel within 14 days of your first purchase for a full refund, no reason needed. Email hello@greatwork.company.

Payments are handled by Stripe on Great Work's checkout page. The price is shown in the add-on before you pay; there is no free-forever plan and no surprise charge.

Privacy

Cellwell only asks for access to the spreadsheet you open it in, and works on the cells you select. It cannot see your other files.
The work happens inside Google Apps Script under your account. Cell contents are never sent to Great Work or anyone else.
Undo snapshots (the old value of each changed cell) are stored with the spreadsheet, the latest 10 changes, so anyone who uses Cellwell on the same spreadsheet can see its History.
Great Work's licensing server sees your Google account email, the product and how many times you pressed Apply during the trial. Full policy: addons.greatwork.company/privacy.

Questions

Does it work with names in "Last, First" order?

Yes. "Smith, John Michael" gives John, Michael and Smith; "Smith Jr., John" keeps Jr. as the suffix.

Can it fix names typed in capitals?

Yes. Tick "Fix names typed in ALL CAPS or lowercase" in Split names, or use Change case > Name Case. McDonald, O'Brien and van der Berg come out right.

How many cells can it handle?

Up to 200,000 per run. Big runs continue in steps; keep the sidebar open until it says Done.

Does it work in shared spreadsheets and Google Workspace accounts?

Yes, for anyone who can edit the spreadsheet. Each person needs their own license.

Other Great Work add-ons

Copycull finds, merges and removes duplicate rows. Rowsplit splits a sheet into tabs or files by a column. Tabmeld combines and compares tabs and files. Tidywell does sorting, case and clean-up in Google Docs.