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Watch Video – Remove Spaces in Excel

Leading and trailing spaces in Excel often leads to a lot of frustration. I can’t think of a situation where you may need these extra spaces, but it often finds its way into the excel spreadsheets.

There are many ways you can end up with these extra spaces – for example, as a part of the data download from a database, while copying data from a text document, or entered manually by mistake.

Leading, trailing, or double space between text could lead to a lot of serious issues.

For example, suppose you have a data set as shown below:

Now have a look at what happens when I use a VLOOKUP function to get the last name using the first name.

You might not be able to spot the difference with the naked eye that there is an extra trailing space in the name that is causing this error.

In this example, it was easy to spot the issue in such a small data set, but imagine having to check this for thousands of records.

To be on the safe side, it is always a good idea to clean your data and remove spaces in Excel.

How to Remove Spaces in Excel

In this tutorial, I will show you two ways to remove spaces in Excel.

Using TRIM function.
Using Find and Replace.

Using the TRIM Function

Excel TRIM function removes the leading and trailing spaces, and double spaces between text strings.

For example, in the above example, to remove spaces from the entire list if first names (in A2:A7), use the following formula in cell C1 and drag it down for all the first names:

=TRIM(A2)

Excel TRIM function would instantly remove all the leading and trailing spaces in the cell.

Once you have the cleaned data, copy it paste it as values in place of the original data.

This function is also helpful if you have more than one space character between words. It would remove the extra spaces such that the result always have one space character between words.

Excel TRIM function does a good job in removing spaces in Excel, however, it fails when you have non-printing characters (such as line breaks) in your data set. To remove non-printing characters, you can use a combination of TRIM and CLEAN functions.

If you have some text in cell A1 from which you want to remove spaces, use the below formula:

=TRIM(CLEAN(A1))

Non-printing characters can also result from =CHAR(160), which can not be removed by the CLEAN formula. So, if you want to be absolutely sure that you have all the extra spaces and non-printing characters, use the below formula:

=TRIM(CLEAN(SUBSTITUTE(A1,CHAR(160)," ")))

Remove Extra Spaces in Excel using FIND and REPLACE

You can remove spaces in Excel using the Find and Replace functionality.

This is a faster technique and can be useful in the given situations:

When you want to remove double spaces.
When you want to remove all the space characters.

Removing Double Spaces

Note that this technique cannot be used to remove leading or trailing spaces. It will find and replace double spaces irrespective of its position.

Here are the steps to do this:

This will replace all the double spaces with a single space character.

Note that this will only remove double spaces. If you have three space characters in between 2 words, it would result in 2 space characters (would remove one). In such cases, you can do this again to remove and any double spaces that might have been left.

Removing Single Spaces

To remove all the space characters in a data set, follow the below steps:

This will remove all the space characters in the selected data set.

Note that in this case, even if there are more than one space characters between two text strings or numbers, all of it would be removed.

Remove Line Breaks

You can also use Find and Replace to quickly remove line breaks.

Here are the steps to do this:

Select the data.
Go to Home –> Find and Select –> Replace (Keyboard Shortcut – Control + H).
In the Find and Replace Dialogue Box:
- Find What: Press Control + J (you may not see anything except for a blinking dot).
- Replace With: Leave it empty.
Replace All.

This will instantly remove all the line breaks from the data set that you selected.

Based on your situation, you can choose either method (formula or find and replace) to remove spaces in Excel.

You may also like the following Excel tutorials:

Find and Remove Duplicates in Excel.
10 Super Neat Ways to Clean Data in Excel.
MS Help – Remove Space and Non-printing characters.
How to Remove the First Character from a String in Excel
How to Remove Time from Date in Excel

Источник

Remove Spaces in Excel

While importing or copy-pasting the data from an external source, extra spaces are also copied in Excel. This makes the data disorganized and difficult to be used. The purpose of removing unwanted spaces from the excel data is to make it more presentable and readable for the user.

For example, if a cell contains “ rose,” the leading spaces may be visible to the reader. However, if “rose ” is written in a cell, the two trailing spaces may not be easily caught by the user.

Since extra spaces may render the Excel formulas incorrect, it is essential to eliminate them.

Remove Spaces in Excel
- Top 5 Methods to Remove Spaces in Excel
- #1 – TRIM Function
- #2 – “Delimited” Option of Text to Columns Wizard
- #3 – “Fixed Width” Option of Text to Columns Wizard
- #4 – Find and Replace Option
- #5 – SUBSTITUTE Function
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Recommended Articles

Top 5 Methods to Remove Spaces in Excel

The five methods to remove extra spaces in Excel are listed as follows:

TRIM function
“Delimited” option of text to columns wizard
“Fixed width” option of text to columns wizard
Find and replace option
SUBSTITUTE function

The user can select any of the techniques depending on the requirement. Let us discuss all the methods one by one, along with examples.

You can download this Remove Spaces Excel Template here – Remove Spaces Excel Template

#1 – TRIM Function

The TRIM functionThe Trim function in Excel does exactly what its name implies: it trims some part of any string. The function of this formula is to remove any space in a given string. It does not remove a single space between two words, but it does remove any other unwanted spaces.read more removes all spaces from a text string except for the single space between the words.

The following data contains extra spaces in column A. We want to rewrite the data without these spaces in column B with the help of the TRIM function.

Step 1: In cell B1, enter the TRIM function.

Step 2: Select the cell A1.

Step 3: Press the “Enter” key. The extra spaces from the name are removed in cell B1, as shown in the following image.

Step 4: Copy or drag the formula to the remaining cells, as shown in the following image.

#2 – “Delimited” Option of Text to Columns Wizard

The text to columnsText to columns in excel is used to separate text in different columns based on some delimited or fixed width. This is done either by using a delimiter such as a comma, space or hyphen, or using fixed defined width to separate a text in the adjacent columns.read more wizard helps remove spaces in excel by splitting the data strings into separate columns. It works on cells containing numerical and textual values.

The following data contains spaces in column A. We want to split the words of column A into separate cells in such a way that the space between the strings is eliminated.

Use the “delimited” option of the text to columns wizard.

Step 1: Select column A. In the Data tab, click “text to columns” from the “data tools” group. The same is shown in the following image.

Step 2: The “convert text to columns wizard” appears, as shown in the following image. Select the option “delimited” in “choose the file type that best describes your data.” Click “next.”

Step 3: Select “space” as the delimiter and click “finish.”

Step 4: The text strings of column A are split into two columns. The second half of the strings is placed in column B. The spaces between the strings have also been removed.

#3 – “Fixed Width” Option of Text to Columns Wizard

The “fixed width” option of the text to columns wizard helps remove extra spaces from numerical and textual data in Excel. For this, all the strings before the space should contain the same number of characters.

The following data contains random text and numbers with spaces in column A. We want to remove the spaces and split the strings into two separate columns.

Use the “fixed width” option of the text to columns wizard.

Step 1: Select column A. In the Data tab, click “text to columns” from the “data tools” group. The same is shown in the following image.

Step 2: The “convert text to columns wizard” appears, as shown in the following image. Select the option “fixed width” in “choose the file type that best describes your data.” Click “next.”

Step 3: Place the cursor at the position of the space. Click “finish.”

Step 4: The strings of column A are split into two columns. The second half of the strings is placed in column B. The spaces between the strings have also been removed.

Note: The text to columns wizard (methods #2 and #3) splits the data into different columns.

#4 – Find and Replace Option

The find and replaceFind and Replace is an Excel feature that allows you to search for any text, numerical symbol, or special character not just in the current sheet but in the entire workbook. Ctrl+F is the shortcut for find, and Ctrl+H is the shortcut for find and replace.read more option helps remove spaces from numerical and textual data in Excel.

Working on the excel data under the heading “TRIM function” (method #1), we want to remove spaces with the find and replace option.

Step 1: Press “Ctrl+H” and the “find and replace” dialog box is displayed, as shown in the following image.

Step 2: Enter a space in the “find what” box. Leave the “replace with” box blank. Click “replace all.”

Step 3: Excel displays a message stating the number of replacements. Click “Ok.”

Step 4: All the spaces in column A have been removed, as shown in the following image.

#5 – SUBSTITUTE Function

The SUBSTITUTE functionSubstitute function in excel is a very useful function which is used to replace or substitute a given text with another text in a given cell, this function is widely used when we send massive emails or messages in a bulk, instead of creating separate text for every user we use substitute function to replace the information.read more helps remove the spaces by replacing them with the existing data string.

Working on the data under the heading “TRIM function” (method #1), we want to remove spaces in excel with the SUBSTITUTE function.

Step 1: In cell B1, enter the SUBSTITUTE function. Click “insert function” in the Formulas tab. The “function arguments” dialog box appears, as shown in the following image.

Step 2: Since the text in which characters are to be substituted is present in cell A1, enter the same in the “text” box.

Step 3: Since extra spaces are to be removed, enter “ ” in the “old_text” box. The blank between a pair of double quotation marks refers to a space.

Step 4: Since the space character is to be replaced with the existing text, enter “” in the “new_text” box. The pair of double quotation marks with no character in-between implies no spaces. Click “Ok.”

Step 5: The extra spaces from the name are removed in cell B1, as shown in the following image.

Step 6: Copy or drag the formula to the remaining cells, as shown in the following image.

Note: The find and replace option and the SUBSTITUTE function (methods #4 and #5) display the entire text string together without spaces.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does it mean to remove spaces in excel and why is it important?

While working with Excel, there might be extra spaces that are not easily visible to the user. It is important to eliminate them for the following reasons:

• The spaces at inappropriate places can make the data look untidy and disordered.
• The extra spaces have a negative impact on the quality of data presentation.
• The unwanted spaces can mess up with the formulas of Excel.
• Two cells with and without spaces are considered different entries even though the data in both may be identical.

Since it is difficult to remove the extra spaces manually, there are various techniques available in Excel for such deletions.

How to remove the leading and trailing spaces in Excel with the TRIM function?

Leading spaces are the extra space characters entered at the beginning of a data string. In contrast, the trailing spaces are found at the end of a string without any character following them.

The TRIM function helps remove all the unwanted spaces of the database. The exception to this rule is the single space character inserted between the words.

The syntax of the TRIM function is stated as follows:

“TRIM(text)”

The “text” represents the cell from which excess spaces are to be removed.

For example, the text string “ Chicago, United States ” in cell C2 is changed to “Chicago, United States” by the formula “=TRIM(C2).”

How to remove all the spaces in Excel?

To remove all the spaces in Excel, use the following formula:

“=SUBSTITUTE(C2,“ ”,“”)”

The space (“ ”) is replaced by the existing data (“”) in the cell C2.

For example, the text string “Chicago, United States” in cell C2 is changed to “Chicago,United States” by the given formula.

Note: Alternatively, the find and replace option can be used to remove all the spaces of a data string.

Watch the Tutorial

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Download the Excel File

You can download the workbook that I use in the video, including the macro I wrote to remove blank spaces.

Space Hunting

Blank spaces can be a headache for data analysts and formula writers. That’s because they are not easy to spot, yet can cause frustrating calculation errors.

After many years of working with Excel, I’ve become a Space Hunter. That sounds like a sci-fi movie title, but it’s just someone who can quickly locate and delete superfluous spaces in cell values.

Based on my space hunting experience, here are five techniques I use frequently to clean up data.

1. Find & Replace

The first method for space hunting is to use the Find & Replace feature.

After highlighting the cells that you want to search through, go to the Home tab. Then open the Find & Select dropdown menu. Select the Replace option. The keyboard shortcut for this is Ctrl + H.

That will bring up the Find and Replace window. On the Replace tab, place one blank space in the Find what field. Make sure there is nothing in the Replace with field. Hitting Replace All (keyboard shortcut: Alt+A) will remove any instances of a space in the data set that you selected.

Although this method is really quick and easy, it’s only useful for data where you want ALL spaces removed. However, there are times when you want to keep spaces between words. For example, if your cells contain both first and last names, you will probably want to keep the space in between those names.

That scenario leads us to our second method for space hunting.

2. The TRIM Function

The TRIM function removes all spaces in a text string, except for single spaces between words.

Below is an example of a report where some of the cells look like they are indented but the indentation is actually just extra spaces. Let’s say we want to remove those spaces for uniformity’s sake. We can use the TRIM function to do that.

In a blank column, start by typing the equals sign (=) and the word TRIM, then tab into the TRIM function.

The only thing you need to identify for the TRIM function to work is the text that needs trimming. So either type the name of the cell or click on the cell that you want to trim and hit Enter. This will return the result you’re looking for: text with no spaces before or after it.

When you copy the formula down for the whole column, the result looks like this.

As you can see, the spacing between the words remains in place, but any spacing before or after the text is removed.

With this method, we had to create a whole new column, so you would have to add the additional step of replacing the original column with the new one using Copy and Paste Values. You can then delete the column with the formulas.

3. Power Query

Like functions and formulas, queries can also be tripped up by the inclusion of a stray blank space.

If you are unsure if blank spaces are what’s causing the problem, you can click into the Editor’s preview to see if there is a space or not.

To remove the spaces, Power Query has a Trim feature found in the right-click menu. With the column that you want to fix selected, just right-click and choose Transform, and Trim.

This trims all the blank space before/after the text string so that the query will return the correct values.

If you are relatively new to Power Query, or could use a refresher, I recommend checking out my free webinar: The Modern Excel Blueprint.

4. Macros and VBA

Let’s look at the same example we used for the TRIM function, but this time we will use a macro to trim extra spaces from text.

Start by opening the VB Editor. Go to the Developer tab and select the Visual Basic Button. The keyboard shortcut is Alt + F11.

I’ve written a simple macro that loops through each cell and replaces the value of the cell with the trimmed value. If you’d like to copy this macro, you can find it in the download file at the top of this post.

One of the benefits of using a macro is that you can assign it to a button. Here I’ve assigned it to a button on the actual worksheet.

And here, I’ve added it to the ribbon by including this macro in my Personal Macro Workbook and assigning a button to it.

That way, I can use this macro on any workbook.

One downside to using the macro method for removing blank spaces is that you cannot undo the action once the macro has been run. In that case, it might be a good idea to save the file before running the macro, if you think you might need to un-trim the data for some reason.

It’s also important to note that the VBA Trim function does NOT trim extra blank spaces between words. Excel’s TRIM function will remove additional spaces between words. So if there are two spaces between the first and last name, TRIM will remove the additional space. VBA’s Trim will not do this. It only removes spaces from the beginning or end of the string. Thanks to Marvin (an Excel Campus Community Member) for bringing this to our attention!

Here are tutorials for how to create a Personal Macro Workbook as well as how to make Macro buttons, whether on the worksheet or in the ribbon.

How to Create a Personal Macro Workbook (Video Series)

How to Create Macro Buttons in Excel Worksheets

5. Trimming Other Characters

Sometimes after you have trimmed the spaces from your text, you might still get calculation errors. One reason for this could be that another hard-to-detect character might be in play. One such character is the non-breaking space. This is often used in HTML coding ( ) and is similar to a regular space, but would not be deleted by the TRIM function or our macro.

To determine which character might be gumming up the works, you can use the CODE function. By copying and pasting the invisible character into a blank cell, and then identifying that cell’s text in the CODE function (“text” is the only argument that needs to be identified for the CODE function), you will return a code number for that character. A quick Google search of that code number will reveal what type of character you are dealing with.

In this case, the non-breaking space character is code 160.

One way to remove that character from your text would be to use Find & Replace. You can simply copy the character and paste it into the Find what field.

You could also use the REPLACE function to do the same thing.

One other option, since we know we want to remove the last character in the text, would be to use the LEFT and LEN functions to essentially create a customized trim feature.

LEFT returns the leftmost characters in a cell, up to a designated amount. LEN (short for Length) returns the number of characters in a cell.

So combining those two functions and subtracting 1 from the LEN to remove that unwanted character would leave just the text without the additional character.

Conclusion

I hope this has been helpful for you. I also explain how spaces can cause errors in formulas in my video on an Introduction to VLOOKUP.

There are actually more than just five ways to go about this task, and if you’d like to add to the list, please leave a comment below. As always, you can ask questions there as well.

Thanks for following along. Until next time!

Источник

Excel Remove Spaces (Table of Contents)

Introduction to Remove Spaces in Excel
Different Types Of Spaces
How to Remove Extra Spaces in Excel?

Introduction to Remove Spaces in Excel

There are multiple ways to remove spaces in excel. The first way we can remove the extra unwanted spaces with the help of the FIND and REPLACE option (Ctrl + H). There we need to put a space and replace that with Blank (Nothing kept). This removes the spaces anywhere from the selected cells. In another way, we can remove the spaces by using a TRIM function. This removes the spaces which are there at the start and end of the selected cell content. And we can also use the SUBSTITUTE function, where we can substitute space with blank to remove spaces completely.

Different Types Of Spaces

It may contain extra spaces before text strings in cells; these spaces are called Leading spaces.

It may contain extra spaces after text strings in cells; these spaces are called Trailing spaces.

Datasets may contain extra in-between spaces, i.e.additional spaces in between text.

Datasets may also contain Line breaks with extra space.

We can get rid of these types of spaces quickly & easily with the below-mentioned options:

FIND AND REPLACE
TRIM Function
SUBSTITUTE Function
CLEAN and TRIM function to Remove Extra Space of Line Break in excel

TRIM Function

TRIM function is a prebuilt integrated function categorized under Text functions. It Removes all extra spaces from text except a single space between words in excel.

The syntax or formula for the TRIM function in Excel is:

Trim function in Excel has only one compulsory argument or parameter, i.e. text.

Text: It is cell content from where you need to remove extra spaces in excel.

The TRIM function only removes the ASCII space character (32) from the text.

How to Remove Extra Spaces in Excel?

Remove extra spaces in Excel is very simple and easy. Let’s understand the working of removing extra spaces in excel with the help of some examples.

You can download this Remove Spaces Excel Template here – Remove Spaces Excel Template

Example #1 – Remove Excel Spaces with the help of Find and Replace

In the below-mentioned example, I have a dataset in column D that contains all three types of extra spaces, i.e. Leading spaces, Trailing spaces & Extra in-between spaces.

For reference, I have done a number of character count for the column D datasets. With the help of the LEN function in column E., I have taken this raw data to another new column (column H) to apply the Find and Replace task.

Now, I have to select the cell range where the Find and Replace parameter needs to be applied to remove extra spaces in excel.

Now, to activate the find and replace option, press the shortcut key Ctrl + H, find and replace window appears.

In Find what: input bar, insert a blank space with the help of the space bar once, and in Replace with no need to input anything, it should remain blank. Click on the Replace All button.

It replaces all the blank spaces in the cell.

You can find a difference in character count between both datasets. Where Find and Replace remove all the blank spaces. In extra in-between spaces content also, it has removed all the blank spaces without retaining a single space between words (This can be rectified with the help of TRIM function).

Note: This method is only used when you want to remove a leading & trailing type of extra spaces from selected cells or to remove all the spaces in the data range from excel completely.

Example #2 – Remove Excel Spaces with the help of TRIM Function

In the below-mentioned example, I have a dataset in column D that contains all three types of extra spaces, i.e. leading spaces, trailing spaces & extra in-between spaces.

Now, In cell H4, let’s apply a TRIM function.

In the Formulas tab, click the Text drop-down menu in the Functions section and select TRIM.

Now the function argument dialog box appears, click on the cell G4, which contains the text where I would like to remove spaces to complete the function, then click on OK.

Now, you can observe in cell H4, where trim function removes leading space in that cell.

Similarly, a TRIM function is applied to other range by selecting the cell H4 and drag it to H9 and click Ctrl+D to apply to the rest of the cells.

You can find a difference in character count between both datasets where TRIM Function removes all spaces before and after the text in the cell (i.e. G4, G5, G6 & G7) & consecutive spaces in the middle of a string in the cell G8 & G9.

Example #3 – Remove Excel Spaces with the help of SUBSTITUTE Function

It will remove all the extra excel spaces, including single spaces between words or numbers.

In the below-mentioned example, I have a dataset in column D that contains all three types of extra spaces, i.e. leading spaces, trailing spaces & extra in-between spaces.

For a reference purpose, I have done a number of character count for the column D datasets. With the help of the LEN function in column E., I have taken this raw data to another new column (column G) to apply the SUBSTITUTE Function.

Now, In cell H4, let’s apply the SUBSTITUTE Function.

In a Formulas tab, click the Text drop-down menu in the Functions section and select SUBSTITUTE.

Now the function argument dialog box appears:

Text Click on the first cell in the column that you need to be changed.
In the Old_text, I need to enter the character that needs to be replaced; it should be entered between double-quotes. i.e. for removal of spaces, it will be ” “.
Here, in the New text, I don’t want to replace anything; therefore, it is typed as “”.

Now, you can observe in cell H4, where the Substitute function removes leading space in that cell.

SUBSTITUTE Function is applied to other ranges by selecting the cell H4 and drag it till H9 and click Ctrl+D so that it is applied to other cells.

You can find a difference in character count between both datasets. Substitute Function removes all the blank spaces; in extra in-between spaces content, it has removed all the blank spaces without retaining a single space between words.

Things to Remember about Excel Remove Spaces

Since the extra space is also a character, therefore in ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) encoding, it has code number 32.
Sometimes, the data appears as line breaks which may contain extra spaces between words; To remove those extra space, we can combine Excel TRIM and CLEAN function to Remove the Extra Space of Line Break.

How to Remove Spaces in Excel

Using the TRIM Function

Remove Extra Spaces in Excel using FIND and REPLACE

Removing Double Spaces

Removing Single Spaces

Remove Line Breaks

Remove Spaces in Excel

Table of contents

Top 5 Methods to Remove Spaces in Excel

#1 – TRIM Function

#2 – “Delimited” Option of Text to Columns Wizard

#3 – “Fixed Width” Option of Text to Columns Wizard

#4 – Find and Replace Option

#5 – SUBSTITUTE Function

Frequently Asked Questions

Recommended Articles

Watch the Tutorial

Download the Excel File

Space Hunting

1. Find & Replace

2. The TRIM Function

3. Power Query

4. Macros and VBA

5. Trimming Other Characters

Conclusion

Introduction to Remove Spaces in Excel

Different Types Of Spaces

How to Remove Extra Spaces in Excel?

Example #1 – Remove Excel Spaces with the help of Find and Replace

Example #2 – Remove Excel Spaces with the help of TRIM Function

Example #3 – Remove Excel Spaces with the help of SUBSTITUTE Function

Things to Remember about Excel Remove Spaces

Recommended Articles