How to delete special / unwanted characters in Excel

This article demonstrates how to effectively remove unwanted characters from text strings within Excel, addressing common issues like invisible characters and those not readily available on a standard keyboard. We'll explore several methods, catering to different Excel versions and skill levels.

When importing data, special characters often infiltrate your spreadsheets, sometimes invisibly, creating extra whitespace. This guide offers solutions beyond manual cell-by-cell cleaning.

• Removing Single Characters
• Deleting Multiple Characters
• Comprehensive Character Removal with LAMBDA (Excel 365)
• VBA Function Solutions
• Eliminating Non-Printable Characters
• Streamlined Removal with Ultimate Suite

Note: For troubleshooting the "####" error in your dataset, refer to our guide on removing this specific error.

Removing a Single Character:

The SUBSTITUTE function offers a straightforward solution. To remove a character (e.g., "?") from cell A2, use: =SUBSTITUTE(A2, "?", "")

For characters not easily typed, copy and paste them directly from the cell into the formula. Alternatively, if the character is invisible, use the CODE function to find its character code and then the CHAR function within SUBSTITUTE. For example, if the code is 191: =SUBSTITUTE(A2, CHAR(191), "")

Remember: SUBSTITUTE is case-sensitive.

Removing Multiple Characters:

Nesting multiple SUBSTITUTE functions works for a few characters, but becomes unwieldy for many. For example: =SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A2, "!", ""), "?", "")

Removing All Unwanted Characters at Once (Excel 365):

Excel 365's LAMBDA function provides a more elegant solution. Create a custom LAMBDA function (named, for example, "RemoveChars") with the following formula:

=LAMBDA(string, chars, IF(chars="", RemoveChars(SUBSTITUTE(string, LEFT(chars, 1), ""), RIGHT(chars, LEN(chars) -1)), string))

Then, use it like this: =RemoveChars(A2, "charsToRemove") where "charsToRemove" is a string of characters to remove. For a range of cells: =RemoveChars(A2:A6, "charsToRemove")

You can create additional LAMBDA functions for specific character sets (e.g., numbers, special symbols).

VBA Function Solutions:

For Excel versions lacking LAMBDA, VBA provides similar functionality. Create a user-defined function (UDF) either recursively or iteratively to remove characters. Example (iterative):

Function RemoveUnwantedChars(str As String, chars As String)
  For index = 1 To Len(chars)
    str = Replace(str, Mid(chars, index, 1), "")
  Next
  RemoveUnwantedChars = str
End Function

Removing Non-Printable Characters:

The CLEAN function removes the first 32 ASCII characters. Combine it with TRIM to remove leading/trailing spaces: =TRIM(CLEAN(A2)). To remove all spaces, use =TRIM(CLEAN(SUBSTITUTE(A2, CHAR(32), ""))).

For specific non-printing characters, determine their code and use SUBSTITUTE with CHAR.

Ultimate Suite:

The Ablebits Ultimate Suite offers a user-friendly interface for removing character sets.

Downloadable resources are available for further exploration.

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