How to Convert a String to a List in Python

To convert a Python string to a list, use split(): "TX,CA,NY".split(",") gives ['TX', 'CA', 'NY'], and with no argument it splits on whitespace. To get one item per character, use list(text):

words = text.split()       # list of words
chars = list(text)         # list of characters

These snippets use US cities, state codes and prices, run on Python 3.12.5.

You’ll learn split() and list(), comma-separated values with spaces and numbers, strings that already look like a list, and multiple delimiters.

Convert a string to a list with split() and list()

split() with no argument treats any run of spaces as one separator. Pass a separator and it splits on exactly that, which can leave empty strings:

sentence = "Ship to Austin  Texas today"
print(sentence.split())                 # any run of whitespace
print(sentence.split(" "))              # exactly one space: note the empty string
print("TX,CA,NY,FL".split(","))
print("2026-10-10 09:30:00".split(" ", 1))   # maxsplit=1
print(list("Ohio"))                     # one item per character

Output:

['Ship', 'to', 'Austin', 'Texas', 'today']
['Ship', 'to', 'Austin', '', 'Texas', 'today']
['TX', 'CA', 'NY', 'FL']
['2026-10-10', '09:30:00']
['O', 'h', 'i', 'o']

maxsplit stops after that many splits, handy for a date and time. More whitespace cases are in splitting a string by whitespace in Python.

Split a comma-separated string into numbers or clean words

Data from a form or CSV usually has stray spaces. float() and int() ignore them, but for text, strip each piece:

raw = "19.99, 5.25 ,102.00,  7.50"
parts = raw.split(",")
print(parts)                                       # spaces stay attached
prices = [float(p) for p in parts]                 # float() ignores the spaces
print(prices, "total:", f"${sum(prices):.2f}")

tags = [t.strip() for t in " python , data , web ".split(",")]
print(tags)

print("".split(","), "".split())                   # empty string: [''] vs []

Output:

['19.99', ' 5.25 ', '102.00', '  7.50']
[19.99, 5.25, 102.0, 7.5] total: $134.74
['python', 'data', 'web']
[''] []

That last line bites in real code: "".split(",") gives one empty item. Check for an empty string first. Converting each piece is covered in converting a string to an integer in Python.

How do you convert a string that looks like a list?

Sometimes the string is already "['Austin', 'Denver']", for example from a log or a CSV cell. ast.literal_eval() parses it safely. json.loads() only works with double quotes:

import ast
import json

text = "['Austin', 'Denver', 'Tampa']"
print(ast.literal_eval(text), type(ast.literal_eval(text)).__name__)

try:
    json.loads(text)
except json.JSONDecodeError as err:
    print("JSONDecodeError:", err.msg)

print(json.loads('["Austin", "Denver", "Tampa"]'))   # JSON needs double quotes

Output:

['Austin', 'Denver', 'Tampa'] list
JSONDecodeError: Expecting value
['Austin', 'Denver', 'Tampa']

Never use eval() for this; it runs any code in the string. If the data is JSON, I’d write it with json.dumps() in the first place, as in converting a string to CSV in Python.

Split a string with multiple delimiters using re

When the separators vary, re.split() takes a pattern. re.findall() pulls out only the parts you want, and splitlines() handles line breaks:

import re

line = "Austin;Denver, Tampa|Miami"
print(re.split(r"[;,|]\s*", line))            # several delimiters at once
print(re.findall(r"\d+", "Order A-1001 shipped 3 items, $49 total"))
print("line one\nline two\r\nline three".splitlines())

Output:

['Austin', 'Denver', 'Tampa', 'Miami']
['1001', '3', '49']
['line one', 'line two', 'line three']

Patterns are covered in more depth in splitting a string with regex in Python.

Which string to list method should you use?

Match the method to what your string looks like. If you need to go the other way later, see building strings from variables in Python.

String	Use	Result
Words separated by spaces	s.split()	List of words
Values with one separator	s.split(",")	List of strings
Characters	list(s)	One item per character
Looks like a Python list	ast.literal_eval(s)	The real list
Mixed separators	re.split(pattern, s)	List of strings

Keep going with these string guides:

• Iterate through a string in Python
• Split a long string into multiple lines
• Convert a tuple to a string in Python
• Convert a string to a byte array

Frequently asked questions