diff --git a/tools/aapt2/cmd/Link.cpp b/tools/aapt2/cmd/Link.cpp
index 6e0809e624505..48eae4d72814c 100644
--- a/tools/aapt2/cmd/Link.cpp
+++ b/tools/aapt2/cmd/Link.cpp
@@ -1785,9 +1785,9 @@ int Link(const std::vector<StringPiece>& args) {
           .OptionalSwitch("-z", "Require localization of strings marked 'suggested'.",
                           &require_localization)
           .OptionalFlagList("-c",
-                        "Comma separated list of configurations to include. The default\n"
-                        "is all configurations.",
-                        &configs)
+                            "Comma separated list of configurations to include. The default\n"
+                            "is all configurations.",
+                            &configs)
           .OptionalFlag("--preferred-density",
                         "Selects the closest matching density and strips out all others.",
                         &preferred_density)
@@ -1855,7 +1855,8 @@ int Link(const std::vector<StringPiece>& args) {
                             &options.extensions_to_not_compress)
           .OptionalFlagList("--split",
                             "Split resources matching a set of configs out to a Split APK.\n"
-                            "Syntax: path/to/output.apk:<config>[,<config>[...]].",
+                            "Syntax: path/to/output.apk:<config>[,<config>[...]].\n"
+                            "On Windows, use a semicolon ';' separator instead.",
                             &split_args)
           .OptionalSwitch("-v", "Enables verbose logging.", &verbose);
 
diff --git a/tools/aapt2/cmd/Optimize.cpp b/tools/aapt2/cmd/Optimize.cpp
index 8f8e0c8e4f6d1..e99ee8aa93c20 100644
--- a/tools/aapt2/cmd/Optimize.cpp
+++ b/tools/aapt2/cmd/Optimize.cpp
@@ -302,7 +302,8 @@ int Optimize(const std::vector<StringPiece>& args) {
                             &configs)
           .OptionalFlagList("--split",
                             "Split resources matching a set of configs out to a "
-                            "Split APK.\nSyntax: path/to/output.apk:<config>[,<config>[...]].",
+                            "Split APK.\nSyntax: path/to/output.apk;<config>[,<config>[...]].\n"
+                            "On Windows, use a semicolon ';' separator instead.",
                             &split_args)
           .OptionalSwitch("--enable-sparse-encoding",
                           "Enables encoding sparse entries using a binary search tree.\n"
diff --git a/tools/aapt2/cmd/Util.cpp b/tools/aapt2/cmd/Util.cpp
index fd94bbc0a1c30..14d426061e561 100644
--- a/tools/aapt2/cmd/Util.cpp
+++ b/tools/aapt2/cmd/Util.cpp
@@ -57,10 +57,17 @@ bool ParseSplitParameter(const StringPiece& arg, IDiagnostics* diag, std::string
   CHECK(out_path != nullptr);
   CHECK(out_split != nullptr);
 
-  std::vector<std::string> parts = util::Split(arg, ':');
+#ifdef _WIN32
+  const char sSeparator = ';';
+#else
+  const char sSeparator = ':';
+#endif
+
+  std::vector<std::string> parts = util::Split(arg, sSeparator);
   if (parts.size() != 2) {
     diag->Error(DiagMessage() << "invalid split parameter '" << arg << "'");
-    diag->Note(DiagMessage() << "should be --split path/to/output.apk:<config>[,<config>...]");
+    diag->Note(DiagMessage() << "should be --split path/to/output.apk" << sSeparator
+                             << "<config>[,<config>...].");
     return false;
   }