Remove unwanted characters from cell in Excel
You can use the SUBSTITUTE function to remove any unwanted characters from a specific cell in Excel.
How to remove unwanted characters from cell in Excel?
Generic formula
=SUBSTITUTE(text_string, text_to_remove, "")
Arguments
Text_string: The text string that containing the specific text you want to remove. It can be:
- 1. The text enclosed in quotation marks;
- 2. Or a reference to a cell containing the text.
Text_to_remove: The specific text you want to remove from a cell. It can be:
- 1. The text enclosed in quotation marks;
- 2. Or a reference to a cell containing the text.
How to use this formula?
This example is going to show you how to use the SUBSTITUTE function to remove the “+” symbol from each cell in range B3:B7.
1. Select a blank cell to output the result.
2. Enter the below formula into it and press the Enter key.
=SUBSTITUTE(B5,"+","")
3. Select the result cell, drag the Fill Handle to apply the formula to other cells.
Tips:
- 1. You can change the “+” symbol in the formula to any other unwanted character you want to remove.
- 2. If you know the code of the character that you want to remove, please use the char(code) to replace the Text_to_remove in the formula. Here takes the dash (the code of the dash is 45) as an example, the formula will be shown as below:
=SUBSTITUTE(B5,CHAR(45),"")
How this formula works?
=SUBSTITUTE(B5,"+","")
The SUBSTITUTE function replaces the + character with empty text.
Related functions
Excel SUBSTITUTE function
The Microsoft Excel SUBSTITUTE function replaces text or characters within a text string with another text or characters.
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