Occasionally, you may find one or more extra spaces in a cell in Microsoft Excel. Below are steps for removing the extra, unnecessary spaces using two different methods.

Steps for removing spaces in cells containing only one word

  • Open the Microsoft Excel workbook containing the data you need to edit.
  • Select the cells that contain extra spaces.
  • On the keyboard, press Ctrl+H to bring up the Find and Replace tool.
  • Click in the Find what text field, and press spacebar once. This action places a space in the text field.
  • Leave the Replace with text field empty.
  • Click Replace All.
  • The cells now contain no spaces.

Steps for removing extra spaces with the Excel trim function

  • Open the Microsoft Excel workbook containing the data you need to edit.

  • Add a column to the right of the column containing cells with spaces. In the top cell of the new column, enter a label for the column, like “Trim” or similar. This column is deleted in a later step.

  • How to add or remove a cell, column, or row in Excel.

  • In the trim column, type =trim in the first cell next to the cell of data from which you need to remove spaces. In the auto-suggest terms that pop up when you start typing the formula, double click the =trim option. This action enters the formula in the blank cell and appears as =TRIM(.

  • Click the cell containing the data with the extra space, eg., cell A2. This action enters the cell data in the trim cell. For example, the formula would look like =TRIM(A2.

  • Enter a right parenthesis ) to the end of the formula in the trim cell to complete the formula.

  • Press Enter and the data from cell A2 is displayed without the extra spaces.

  • Use the Excel AutoFill feature to copy and paste the formula to any other cells containing extra spaces.

  • Select and copy the cells in the trim column.

  • Right-click the first cell where the data needs to be pasted. In the pop-up menu, under Paste Options, click the icon, which looks like a clipboard with the numbers “123” on it. This action pastes the values from the trim column into the original data column, with extra spaces removed.

  • As a clean-up step, select the entire trim column, right-click and select Delete in the pop-up menu to remove the column.

  • How to select an entire row or column in a spreadsheet.

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The trim function removes extra, unnecessary spaces with multiple words in a cell without removing the necessary spaces.

The following steps are also outlined in the video below the steps.

  • How to add or remove a cell, column, or row in Excel.
  • How to find and remove duplicate values in Excel.
  • Help, examples, and information on Excel formulas.
  • Microsoft Excel help and support.