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How to remove non-printable characters from cells in Excel?

Author Tech Support Last modified

Working with files from various sources or pasting information from other applications into Excel can often introduce non-printable characters into your worksheet. These characters can disrupt the cleanliness and presentation of your data. To maintain a clean and professional-looking worksheet, it's essential to remove these non-printable characters. This guide will show you how to quickly and efficiently eliminate them from your Excel cells.

sample data arrow right remove non-printable characters

Remove non-printable characters from cells with the CLEAN function

Remove non-printable characters from cells with Kutools for Excel

arrow blue right bubble Remove non-printable characters from cells with the CLEAN function

The CLEAN function can remove all of the non-printable characters from the cells. For example, I have Column C (C2:C11) needs to remove the non-printable characters. You can do as the following tutorial:

1. Select a blank cell D2 adjacent to C2, and input the formula below.

=CLEAN(C2)

2. Tap the Enter key.

3. And then drag the fill handle over the range of cells that you want to remove non-printing characters. And all of the non-printable characters have been removed. See screenshot:

Remove non-printable characters with the CLEAN function

arrow blue right bubble Remove non-printable characters from cells with Kutools for Excel

With Kutools for Excelā€™s Delete Characters, you can quickly and easily remove non-printable characters from cells.

Kutools for Excel offers over 300 advanced features to streamline complex tasks, boosting creativity and efficiency. Itegarate with AI capabilities, Kutools automates tasks with precision, making data management effortless. Detailed information of Kutools for Excel...         Free trial...

Step 1. Select the range you want to work with.

Step 2. Click Kutools > Text  > Delete Characters.

Step 3. Check Non-printing in the pop-up dialog, see screenshot:

Check Non-printing in the dialog box

Step 4. Click Ok or Apply to delete non-printing characters in the range.

Notes:
  • This utility also can delete numeric characters, non-numeric characters, non-printing characters, and so on. For more detailed information about Delete Characters, please visit the Delete Characters feature description.
  • Kutools for Excel: with more than 300 handy Excel add-ins, free to try with no limitation in 30 days.  Get Kutools for Excel Now!

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