How to add sub columns in Google Sheets

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When you're working on a data set, you occasionally need to split a column into two or more new columns. For example, if you imported a database with employees first and last names in one cell, but need the names separated into two cells, use the SPLIT function in the spreadsheet module that comes with Google Docs. If the cells have been previously merged, you can unmerge them with the unmerge button on the toolbar.

Using SPLIT

1. Open the Google Docs spreadsheet containing the column you want to split. Right click the column's title, which contains the letter for that column. Click "Insert 1 Right." Repeat this process for the number of columns into which you want to split the cell. For example, to split the column into three new columns, click three times.

2. Type code into the cell to the right of the cell at the top of your original column to identify the cell at the top of the column you're splitting as well as the character at which you want the split to begin. Replace "A1" in the code with the cell number at the top of the column to split and replace "x" with the character, such as a space. For example to split a first and last name, type " " [a space enclosed in quotes] as this splits the cell at the space between the two names.

   =SPLIT[A1, "x"]

   If this character appears more than once in the cell, you will create more new columns with the split.

3. Copy and paste this formula to the bottom of the column. If different cells in the original column need to be split at different points -- for example, if some names are split by a space and others by an underscore -- type each one in manually. The column will then be split into the new columns.

Using Unmerge

1. Open the Google Docs spreadsheet containing the column you'll be splitting.

2. Select the column.

3. Click "Format," "Merge Cells" and then "Unmerge."

If you’ve been asking yourself “Can Google Sheets group rows?” The answer is yes. The functionality was added in 2018 and works great!

Grouping data allows you to group rows/columns [that you can expand and collapse with a single click or a keyboard shortcut]. This helps as you can make the data concise by hiding the grouped data and in case more detail is needed, you can quickly ungroup and show the grouped data.

Below is an example where I have the data for four quarters, and I have grouped each quarter data. To view the data, I can easily click on the plus icon on the left and it shows me the data for that quarter.

Now, let’s see how you can group rows and columns in Google Sheets.

• Googe Sheets Group Rows Guide
  • Keyboard Shortcut to Group Rows in Google Sheets: Alt + Shift + ->
• Group Columns In Google Sheets
• Creating Multiple Layers of Grouping
• Ungroup Rows and Columns in Google Sheets
  • Ungroup Rows and Columns With a Keyboard Shortcut
• Frequently Asked Questions
  • How Do You Name a Group of Rows in Google Sheets?
  • What Does It Mean to Group a Row in Google Sheets?

Googe Sheets Group Rows Guide

Below is a dataset where I want to group rows in a way that I only have the quarter-wise data available and the rows that make this data are grouped.

Below are the steps for grouping rows in Google Sheets:

1. Select the rows that you want to group. Make sure you select the entire row by selecting the row number at the left-most of the document [and not the cells in the worksheet].
2. Hover the cursor over the selected rows and right-click
3. Click on the option, Group rows 2-4 [in your case it will show the number of the rows you have selected].

That’s it, that’s how Google Sheets Collapses rows!

The above steps would instantly group the rows and you will see a gray vertical block appear on the left-most part with a minus sign icon.

When you click on this minus sign icon, it will hide all the grouped rows and the icon would change to a plus sign one [indicating that it contains some grouped rows].

To group other rows, you need to follow the same steps. Just select the rows that you want to group and follow the steps above.

Note that you can only group contiguous rows. If you select non-contiguous rows and right-click, it will not show you the option to group.

Keyboard Shortcut to Group Rows in Google Sheets: Alt + Shift + ->

There is another [faster] way to group rows in Google Sheets – using a keyboard shortcut.

Suppose you have the dataset below where you want to group rows 2-4;

Below are the steps to using a keyboard shortcut to do this:

1. Select the cells that you want to group [A2:A4 in this example]
2. With the cells selected, hold the ALT and SHIFT keys and press the right arrow key. [Mac users hold Option instead of Alt]
3. Select the Option Group rows 2-4.
4. Hit Enter.

Personally, I find using this keyboard shortcut method a lot faster to group rows and columns in Google Sheets.

Group Columns In Google Sheets

Just like rows, you can also group columns in Google Sheets.

Suppose you have a dataset as shown below and you want to group column B and C, so that you can hide and only show the total sales column.

Here’s how to group columns in Google Sheets:

1. Select the columns that you want to group. Make sure you select the entire row by selecting the column alphabet at the top-most of the document [and not the cells in the worksheet].
2. Hover the cursor over the selected columns and right-click
3. Click on the option, Group column B-C.

The above steps would instantly group these two columns and show a minus icon at the top of the rows. When you click on this minus icon, it will hide the columns and change into a plus icon. When you want to see these columns, you can click on the plus icon and these columns would become visible. Now you know how to collapse columns in Google Sheets.

Creating Multiple Layers of Grouping

In the above examples, we have only grouped based on one layer.

For example, when we grouped the rows, we did it for all the quarters.

So when you hide all the grouped rows, you will see the dataset as shown below [which shows only the quarters and the year values].

But what if now you want to add another layer of grouping where even the quarters are grouped and hidden and only the year value is visible.

You can do that by adding another layer of grouping over the existing one. Doing this can save space if you have enlarged rows or columns.

Below are the steps to do this:

1. Ungroup all the data so every row is visible
2. Select all the rows you want to group. In this case, I will not select the header and the last row [the one that gives the full-year data].
3. Right-click on any of the selected cells
4. Click on Group rows 2-17

As soon as you do this, you will notice that you now have two layers of grouping [you can see this visually in the gray stripe in the left-most part].

The first [bigger] layer will hide all the rows and show only the year, and the second layer has multiple grouping that you can use to hide all month level data and show only quarterly data.

Expanding/Collapsing all Grouped Rows/Columns

When you create a lot of grouped rows or columns, it is going to take you a lot of time to expand all or collapse all.

While doing it one by one for each group is an option, it’s not the efficient one.

• To expand all groups [i.e., to make all the rows visible], right-click on any of the plus/minus icons and click on Expand all row groups
• To collapse all groups [i.e., to hide all the rows and only show the outlines], right-click on any of the plus/minus icons and click on Collapse all row groups

Ungroup Rows and Columns in Google Sheets

Now that you can group cells in Google Sheets, removing the Google spreadsheet collapsed rows is super simple.

Just right-click on the +/- icon and then click on Remove Group.

In case you have a huge dataset and many groups, just select all the grouped rows [by selecting the left-most column numbers] and then click on Ungroup rows option.

You can also change the position of the +/- icon that appears after the grouping. Just right-click on any of the +/- icon and you get the option Move +/- button to the bottom [or option Move +/- button to the top in case it’s at the bottom already]. You can also follow similar steps to unhide rows in Google Sheets.

Ungroup Rows and Columns With a Keyboard Shortcut

To remove grouping columns in Google Sheets with a keyboard shortcut, you use a left arrow instead of a right arrow. So, the whole shortcut would be:

• PC: Alt + Shift + Left Arrow
• macOS: Option + Shift + Left Arrow

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Name a Group of Rows in Google Sheets?

Click on the group, then navigate to Data > Ranges and assign a name.

What Does It Mean to Group a Row in Google Sheets?

Grouping rows or columns is attaching them to each other so they can be easily selected all at once next to the row or column header.

I hope you found this tutorial about how to group rows in Google Sheets useful.

If you liked this Google Sheets group rows guide, you may also like the following Google Sheets tutorials:

• How to Freeze Rows in Google Sheets
• How to Lock Cells in Google Sheets
• How to Insert Multiple Rows in Google Sheets [with Useful Shortcut]
• How to Color Alternate Rows In Google Sheets
• How to Delete Empty Rows in Google Sheets
• How to Jump to Specific Cell or Range in Google Sheets?
• How to Unmerge Cells in Google Sheets
• Merge Cells In Google Sheets
• How to Move Columns in Google Sheets