What does the split function do in spreadsheet software?

The split function in spreadsheet software is designed to divide text into separate cells based on specified characters, making it particularly useful for handling data that is structured with delimiters, such as commas or spaces. For instance, if you have a cell containing the text "apple,banana,cherry" and you use the split function with a comma as the delimiter, it will separate that text into three different cells containing "apple," "banana," and "cherry." This allows for better organization and analysis of data, especially when parsing lists or structured data contained within a single cell.

The other options represent different functions: combining cells pertains to merging data, removing extra spaces involves text cleanup, and counting characters pertains to string length analysis. Each serves a unique purpose, but they do not align with the primary role of the split function.