A user interface for parsing unstructured data using pattern recognition. The patterns used in parsing data are formed from regular expressions. The parsed data may be displayed in a first format and unmatched strings in the unstructured text may be displayed in a second format. A format may comprise a desired color, font or any other user interface parameter. In addition, the data that parses according to a pattern may be placed in a column associated with the pattern in a tabular user interface, for example a spreadsheet like Excel™. Associating a pattern with a position to display successful matches in allows for breaking unstructured text into pieces associated with a particular field or column. Modification of the patterns allows for more and more of the unstructured text to match the patterns and when the data has been parsed to the desired level, the data may be imported into a database.