Eliminating extra spaces in Google Sheets cell entries?

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1

Hey everyone! I’m working on a Google Sheets project where I’m collecting data through forms. The problem is that some of the text entries have extra spaces at the beginning or end. I want to clean this up automatically.

I tried using a JavaScript function like this:

function trimSpaces(input) {
  return input.trim();
}

But it’s not doing the trick in Google Sheets. Does anyone know a good way to remove these pesky spaces? Maybe there’s a built-in formula or a different approach I should use?

I’d really appreciate any tips or tricks you can share. Thanks in advance for your help!

2

I’ve dealt with this issue before in my data analysis work. The TRIM function in Google Sheets is your best bet for removing extra spaces. It’s built-in and super easy to use. Just wrap your cell reference in TRIM like this: =TRIM(A1). This will remove leading, trailing, and excess middle spaces.

If you need to apply it to a whole column, you can use an array formula. In the first cell of an empty column, enter =ARRAYFORMULA(TRIM(A:A)) and it’ll clean up the entire column A.

For more complex scenarios, you might want to look into using REGEXREPLACE to target specific space patterns. But for most cases, TRIM should do the trick without any scripting needed.

3

I’ve encountered this issue in my work with survey data. While TRIM is a great function, I found it doesn’t always catch everything, especially with data from different sources. Here’s what worked for me:

  1. Use CLEAN function first to remove non-printable characters: =CLEAN(A1)
  2. Then apply TRIM: =TRIM(CLEAN(A1))

You can combine these in an array formula for the whole column:
=ARRAYFORMULA(TRIM(CLEAN(A:A)))

This approach has been more thorough in my experience, catching those sneaky spaces and invisible characters that sometimes slip through. It’s saved me hours of manual cleaning.

If you’re still having issues after this, it might be worth checking if there are any non-breaking spaces (Alt+0160) in your data. Those require a bit more advanced handling with SUBSTITUTE or REGEXREPLACE.

4

yo, try the TRIM function in sheets. it’s super easy. just do =TRIM(A1) or whatever cell you want. it’ll zap those annoying spaces at the start n end. if you need it for a whole column, use =ARRAYFORMULA(TRIM(A:A)). works like a charm for me everytime!