I am new at using QGIS. How can I simply split features in QGIS? The manual tells to simply draw a line through the polygon you want to split. But it doesn't work. The line disappears when finishing it. When I select the polygon and then split it, it sometimes works and sometimes doesn't (an info appears after which it does not split the feature). Does anybody have an idea why the tool does not work properly?
[GIS] How to Split Features in QGIS
qgissplitting
Related Solutions
To use the split tool, you want to left click at least twice to create the line that will split your existing line, then after the 2nd left click you right click to finish the process.
I was kind of able to duplicate the behavior you're seeing when I left clicked to start the split line, then right clicked at it's end point. The green X would appear, and not go away until I performed a valid split. I'm using 1.8 on Windows 7.
As geoKevin said look got Multipart to Singlepart in the Vector menu.
Best Answer
To update Curlew above, as of QGIS 2.18, you would use the built-in Advanced Digitizing Toolbar, which can be accessed via View > Toolbars > Advanced Digitizing Toolbar. The toolbar will look like this and the "Split Features" button is the fifth from the right:
With that loaded, and the respective later selected and in Edit mode, select the "Split Features" tool and use it to draw through the place(s) where you want to create segments. You can then use the "Node Tool" to select vertices and move them wherever the new segments should be positioned. A quick summary looks like this:
In the end, each segment will then become an independent feature in your vector layer. Be sure to save your edits!
For more information, see the QGIS user manual section on advanced digitizing.