Split / subdivide Google Sheets cell into multiple columns and / or rows

Question

In Google Docs, you can insert a table, right-click a cell, select "Split cell", specify into how many columns (and / or rows) you want to subdivide the cell, and click "Split" to subdivide a cell. Is there a way to do the same thing in Google Sheets?

I would love this feature in Sheets, but as far as I can tell it's not possible, and I instead have to do a cumbersome combination of "Insert 1 column right", then merge other cells, readjust column width, fix broken formulas, etc. Pain! Splitting a cell into two columns and having all the other cells in that column automatically merge and span the two columns would be very useful. Any tips?

Here's an example in Google Docs: https://workspaceupdates.googleblog.com/2022/10/split-table-cells-in-google-docs.html

Note: I'm NOT after splitting the content, as can be done via Data menu > Split text into columns, or using the SPLIT() formula.

Answer 1

No, you can't do that, nor would that be a good idea natively.

Tables in a word processing document are basically artwork/editable pictures when compared to a spreadsheet.

In a spreadsheet the relationships between the content in the cells matters. Splitting a cell physically is illogical.

There is no cell addressing in Docs so who cares what it looks like? Split, merge, whatever.

Conversely, while it is recognized that there is some benefit to merging cells for presentation reasons, it is generally discouraged to merge cells in spreadsheets that contain any data, and most users will avoid merging cells for any reason wherever possible. Merged cells inhibit spreadsheets from behaving normally.

If your task is driven by presentation, you might consider sepoerating the calculation layer from the presentation layer.

You could also achieve your custom merging behavior using a macro or apps script that inserts a column then BYROW merges the two columns.