How to split a string with a string delimiter in C#?

String splitting in C# is a common operation used to divide a string into substrings based on specified delimiters. The Split() method provides multiple overloads to handle different types of delimiters including characters, strings, and arrays.

Syntax

Following are the common syntax forms for splitting strings −

// Split by single character
string[] result = str.Split(',');

// Split by character array
char[] delimiters = {',', ';', '|'};
string[] result = str.Split(delimiters);

// Split by string delimiter
string[] result = str.Split(new string[] {"||"}, StringSplitOptions.None);

Using Character Delimiters

The simplest way to split a string is using a single character delimiter −

using System;

class Program {
    static void Main() {
        string str = "Welcome,to,New York";
        string[] arr = str.Split(',');
        
        foreach (string val in arr) {
            Console.WriteLine(val);
        }
    }
}

The output of the above code is −

Welcome
to
New York

Using String Delimiters

To split using string delimiters (multiple characters), use the string array overload −

using System;

class Program {
    static void Main() {
        string str = "apple||banana||cherry||date";
        string[] delimiters = new string[] {"||"};
        string[] arr = str.Split(delimiters, StringSplitOptions.None);
        
        foreach (string val in arr) {
            Console.WriteLine(val);
        }
    }
}

The output of the above code is −

apple
banana
cherry
date

Using Multiple Delimiters

You can split a string using multiple different delimiters simultaneously −

using System;

class Program {
    static void Main() {
        string str = "apple,banana;cherry|date:grape";
        char[] delimiters = new char[] {',', ';', '|', ':'};
        string[] arr = str.Split(delimiters, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries);
        
        foreach (string val in arr) {
            Console.WriteLine(val);
        }
    }
}

The output of the above code is −

apple
banana
cherry
date
grape

StringSplitOptions

The StringSplitOptions enumeration controls how empty entries are handled −

Example with Empty Entries

using System;

class Program {
    static void Main() {
        string str = "apple,,cherry,";
        
        Console.WriteLine("With None option:");
        string[] arr1 = str.Split(',');
        for (int i = 0; i 

The output of the above code is −

With None option:
[0]: 'apple'
[1]: ''
[2]: 'cherry'
[3]: ''

With RemoveEmptyEntries option:
[0]: 'apple'
[1]: 'cherry'


Conclusion

The Split()StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries to exclude empty results when dealing with consecutive delimiters or trailing separators.