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How to remove all characters after the first/last space from cells in Excel?

Author: Kelly Last Modified: 2024-08-29

For example you want to remove all characters after the last space from cells, how could you easily get it done in Excel? And what if removing all characters after the first space? There are some solutions for you:


Remove all characters after the first/last space with formulas

This section will introduce formulas to remove all characters after the first or last space in Excel. Please do as follows:

Remove all characters after the last space

Select a blank cell, enter the formula =LEFT(A2,FIND("^^",SUBSTITUTE(A2," ","^^",LEN(A2)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(A2," ",""))))-1) (A2 is the cell where you will remove all characters after the last space ) into it, and drag the Fill Handle to the range as you need.
Remove all characters after the last space with a formula

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And then you will see all characters after the last space are removed in each cell. See screenshot:
drag and fill the formula to other cells

Remove all characters after the first space

Select a blank cell, enter the formula =LEFT(A2,FIND(" ",A2)-1) (A2 is the cell where you will remove all characters after the first space) into it, and the drag the Fill Handle down to the range as you need.
Remove all characters after the first space with a formula


Remove all characters after the first space with Kutools for Excel

This method will introduce Kutools for Excel’s Split Names utility to quickly remove all characters after the first space from cells in Excel.

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1. Select the range that you will remove all characters after the first space from each cell, and click Kutools > Text > Split Names. See screenshot:
click Split Names feature of kutools

2. In the opening Split Names dialog box, only check the First Name option, and click the Ok button.
check the First Name option in the dialog box

3. And then specify the first cell of destination range into the second Split Names dialog box, and click the OK button.
specify the first cell of destination range

And now you will see all characters are removed after the first space from each cell. See screenshot:
all characters are removed after the first space from each cell

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Remove all characters after the last space with User Defined Function

You can also apply a User Defined Function to remove all characters after the last space from cells in Excel. Please do as follows:

1. Press Alt + F11 keys simultaneously to open the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window.

2. Click Insert > Module, and then copy and paste the following code into the new Module window.

VBA: Remove all characters after the last space in Excel

Function RemoveAfterLastSpace(Txt As String) As String
With CreateObject("VBScript.RegExp")
.Pattern = "\s+\w+$"
RemoveAfterLastSpace = .Replace(Txt, "")
End With
End Function
3. Save the User Defined Function and close the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window.

4. Select a blank cell, enter the formula =RemoveAfterLastSpace(A2) (A2 is the cell where you will remove all characters after the last space) into it, and the drag the Fill Handle to the range as you need.
Remove all characters after the last space with user defined function

And then you will see all characters after the last space are removed from each cell. See screenshot:
drag and fill the formula to other cells to get the result


Demo

 

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