Python split string by character

❮ String Methods

Example

Split a string into a list where each word is a list item:

txt = "welcome to the jungle"

x = txt.split()

print(x)

Try it Yourself »

Definition and Usage

The split() method splits a string into a list.

You can specify the separator, default separator is any whitespace.

Note: When maxsplit is specified, the list will contain the specified number of elements plus one.

Syntax

string.split(separator, maxsplit)

Parameter Values

More Examples

Example

Split the string, using comma, followed by a space, as a separator:

txt = "hello, my name is Peter, I am 26 years old"

x = txt.split(", ")

print(x)

Try it Yourself »

Example

Use a hash character as a separator:

txt = "apple#banana#cherry#orange"

x = txt.split("#")

print(x)

Try it Yourself »

Example

Split the string into a list with max 2 items:

txt = "apple#banana#cherry#orange"

# setting the maxsplit parameter to 1, will return a list with 2 elements!
x = txt.split("#", 1)

print(x)

Try it Yourself »

❮ String Methods

Given a string, write a Python program to split the characters of the given string into a list using Python.

Examples:  

Input : geeks
Output : ['g', 'e', 'e', 'k', 's']

Input : Word
Output : ['W', 'o', 'r', 'd']

Method 1: Split a string into a Python list using unpack(*) method

The act of unpacking involves taking things out, specifically iterables like dictionaries, lists, and tuples.

Python3

string = "geeks"

print([*string])

Output: 

['g', 'e', 'e', 'k', 's']

Method 2: Split a string into a Python list using a loop

Here, we are splitting the letters using the native way using the loop and then we are appending it to a new list.

Python3

string = 'geeksforgeeks'

lst = []

for letter in string:

    lst.append(letter)

print(lst)

Output:

['g', 'e', 'e', 'k', 's', 'f', 'o', 'r', 'g', 'e', 'e', 'k', 's']

Method 3: Split a string into a Python list using List Comprehension

This approach uses list comprehension to convert each character into a list. Using the following syntax you can split the characters of a string into a list.

Python3

string = "Geeksforgeeks"

letter = [x for x in string]

print(letter)

Output: 

['G', 'e', 'e', 'k', 's', 'f', 'o', 'r', 'g', 'e', 'e', 'k', 's']

Method 4: Split a string into a Python list using a list() typecasting

Python provides direct typecasting of strings into a list using Python list().

Python3

def split(word):

    return list(word)

word = 'geeks'

print(split(word))

Output: 

['g', 'e', 'e', 'k', 's']

Method 5: Split a string into a Python list using extend()

Extend iterates over its input, expanding the list, and adding each member.

Python3

string = 'Geeks@for'

lst = []

lst.extend(string)

print(lst)

Output: 

['G', 'e', 'e', 'k', 's', '@', 'f', 'o', 'r']

Python String split() method in Python split a string into a list of strings after breaking the given string by the specified separator.

Python String split() Method Syntax

Syntax : str.split(separator, maxsplit)

Parameters :

• separator : This is a delimiter. The string splits at this specified separator. If is not provided then any white space is a separator.
• maxsplit : It is a number, which tells us to split the string into maximum of provided number of times. If it is not provided then the default is -1 that means there is no limit.

Returns : Returns a list of strings after breaking the given string by the specified separator.

Python String split() Method Example

Python3

string = "one,two,three"

words = string.split(',')

print(words)

Output:

['one', 'two', 'three']

Example 1: Example to demonstrate how split() function works

Here we are using the Python String split() function to split different Strings into a list, separated by different characters in each case.

Python3

text = 'geeks for geeks'

print(text.split())

word = 'geeks, for, geeks'

print(word.split(','))

word = 'geeks:for:geeks'

print(word.split(':'))

word = 'CatBatSatFatOr'

print(word.split('t'))

Output :

['geeks', 'for', 'geeks']
['geeks', ' for', ' geeks']
['geeks', 'for', 'geeks']
['Ca', 'Ba', 'Sa', 'Fa', 'Or']

Example 2: Example to demonstrate how split() function works when maxsplit is specified

The maxsplit parameter is used to control how many splits to return after the string is parsed. Even if there are multiple splits possible, it’ll only do maximum that number of splits as defined by maxsplit parameter.

Python3

word = 'geeks, for, geeks, pawan'

print(word.split(', ', 0))

print(word.split(', ', 4))

print(word.split(', ', 1))

Output :

['geeks, for, geeks, pawan']
['geeks', 'for', 'geeks', 'pawan']
['geeks', 'for, geeks, pawan']

How do you split a string by character in Python?

How do I separate a character from a string?

How do you split all 4 characters in a string Python?

How do you split a string by index in Python?