How to use the TRIM function

The picture above shows you values that have multiple leading and trailing blanks, sometimes also multiple blanks between words.

The TRIM function deletes all blanks or space characters except single blanks between words in a cell value.

Formula in cell C3:

1. Syntax

TRIM(text)

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2. Argument

text	The string or cell value you want to delete blanks from.

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3. Function not working

The TRIM function removes the space character from a cell value, however, there is another space character commonly used in HTML pages that are not removed by this function.

To remove that space character you need to use the SUBSTITUTE function with the TRIM function. Formula in cell C3:

CHAR(160) returns the other space character that TRIM can't delete. The SUBSTITUTE function then replaces the HTML space character with a regular space character.

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3.1 Explaining formula

Step 1 - Create HTML space character

The CHAR function converts a number to the corresponding character based on your computer's character set.

CHAR(160)

returns " ". This is an HTML space character.

Step 2 - Replace HTML character with a regular space character

The SUBSTITUTE function replaces a specific text string in a value.

SUBSTITUTE(text, old_text, new_text, [instance_num])

SUBSTITUTE(B3, CHAR(160), " ")

becomes

SUBSTITUTE("Martin       Williams"," "," ")

and returns

"Martin       Williams".

Step 3 - Remove leading and trailing space characters

TRIM(SUBSTITUTE(B3, CHAR(160), " "))

becomes

TRIM("Martin       Williams")

and returns "Martin Williams".

3.2 Other errors

The TRIM function returns

• #NAME? error if you misspell the function name.
• propagates errors, meaning that if the input contains an error (e.g., #VALUE!, #REF!), the function will return the same error.

3.3 Troubleshooting the error value

When you encounter an error value in a cell a warning symbol appears, displayed in the image above. Press with mouse on it to see a pop-up menu that lets you get more information about the error.

1. The first line describes the error if you press with left mouse button on it.
2. The second line opens a pane that explains the error in greater detail.
3. The third line takes you to the "Evaluate Formula" tool, a dialog box appears allowing you to examine the formula in greater detail.
4. This line lets you ignore the error value meaning the warning icon disappears, however, the error is still in the cell.
5. The fifth line lets you edit the formula in the Formula bar.
6. The sixth line opens the Excel settings so you can adjust the Error Checking Options.

Here are a few of the most common Excel errors you may encounter.

#NULL error - This error occurs most often if you by mistake use a space character in a formula where it shouldn't be. Excel interprets a space character as an intersection operator. If the ranges don't intersect an #NULL error is returned. The #NULL! error occurs when a formula attempts to calculate the intersection of two ranges that do not actually intersect. This can happen when the wrong range operator is used in the formula, or when the intersection operator (represented by a space character) is used between two ranges that do not overlap. To fix this error double check that the ranges referenced in the formula that use the intersection operator actually have cells in common.

#SPILL error - The #SPILL! error occurs only in version Excel 365 and is caused by a dynamic array being to large, meaning there are cells below and/or to the right that are not empty. This prevents the dynamic array formula expanding into new empty cells.

#DIV/0 error - This error happens if you try to divide a number by 0 (zero) or a value that equates to zero which is not possible mathematically.

#VALUE error - The #VALUE error occurs when a formula has a value that is of the wrong data type. Such as text where a number is expected or when dates are evaluated as text.

#REF error - The #REF error happens when a cell reference is invalid. This can happen if a cell is deleted that is referenced by a formula.

#NAME error - The #NAME error happens if you misspelled a function or a named range.

#NUM error - The #NUM error shows up when you try to use invalid numeric values in formulas, like square root of a negative number.

#N/A error - The #N/A error happens when a value is not available for a formula or found in a given cell range, for example in the VLOOKUP or MATCH functions.

#GETTING_DATA error - The #GETTING_DATA error shows while external sources are loading, this can indicate a delay in fetching the data or that the external source is unavailable right now.

3.4 The formula returns an unexpected value

To understand why a formula returns an unexpected value we need to examine the calculations steps in detail. Luckily, Excel has a tool that is really handy in these situations. Here is how to troubleshoot a formula:

1. Select the cell containing the formula you want to examine in detail.
2. Go to tab “Formulas” on the ribbon.
3. Press with left mouse button on "Evaluate Formula" button. A dialog box appears.
   The formula appears in a white field inside the dialog box. Underlined expressions are calculations being processed in the next step. The italicized expression is the most recent result. The buttons at the bottom of the dialog box allows you to evaluate the formula in smaller calculations which you control.
4. Press with left mouse button on the "Evaluate" button located at the bottom of the dialog box to process the underlined expression.
5. Repeat pressing the "Evaluate" button until you have seen all calculations step by step. This allows you to examine the formula in greater detail and hopefully find the culprit.
6. Press "Close" button to dismiss the dialog box.

There is also another way to debug formulas using the function key F9. F9 is especially useful if you have a feeling that a specific part of the formula is the issue, this makes it faster than the "Evaluate Formula" tool since you don't need to go through all calculations to find the issue..

1. Enter Edit mode: Double-press with left mouse button on the cell or press F2 to enter Edit mode for the formula.
2. Select part of the formula: Highlight the specific part of the formula you want to evaluate. You can select and evaluate any part of the formula that could work as a standalone formula.
3. Press F9: This will calculate and display the result of just that selected portion.
4. Evaluate step-by-step: You can select and evaluate different parts of the formula to see intermediate results.
5. Check for errors: This allows you to pinpoint which part of a complex formula may be causing an error.

The image above shows cell reference B3 converted to hard-coded value using the F9 key. The TRIMMEAN function requires non-error values which is not the case in this example. We have found what is wrong with the formula.

Tips!

• View actual values: Selecting a cell reference and pressing F9 will show the actual values in those cells.
• Exit safely: Press Esc to exit Edit mode without changing the formula. Don't press Enter, as that would replace the formula part with the calculated value.
• Full recalculation: Pressing F9 outside of Edit mode will recalculate all formulas in the workbook.

Remember to be careful not to accidentally overwrite parts of your formula when using F9. Always exit with Esc rather than Enter to preserve the original formula. However, if you make a mistake overwriting the formula it is not the end of the world. You can “undo” the action by pressing keyboard shortcut keys CTRL + z or pressing the “Undo” button

3.5 Other errors

Floating-point arithmetic may give inaccurate results in Excel - Article

Floating-point errors are usually very small, often beyond the 15th decimal place, and in most cases don't affect calculations significantly.

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4. Example 1 - remove leading space characters only

Formula in cell C3:

Explaining formula in cell C4

Step 1 - Remove leading, trailing, and repeated space characters

TRIM(B4)

becomes

TRIM(" Martin Williams ")

and returns

"Martin Williams"

Step 2 - Extract the first character

The LEFT function extracts a specific number of characters starting from the left.

LEFT(text, [num_chars])

LEFT(TRIM(B3),1)

becomes

LEFT("Martin Williams",1)

and returns "M".

Step 3 - Search for the first character

The SEARCH function returns a number representing the position of character at which a specific text string is found reading left to right.

SEARCH(find_text,within_text, [start_num])

SEARCH(LEFT(TRIM(B3),1),B3)

becomes

SEARCH("M", " Martin Williams ")

and returns 2.

Step 4 - Count characters

The LEN function returns the number of characters in a cell or string.

LEN(B3)

becomes

LEN(" Martin Williams ")

returns 21.

Step 5 - Extract string based on character position and string length

The MID function extracts a substring from a string based on the starting position and the number of characters you want to extract.

MID(text, start_num, num_chars)

MID(B3, SEARCH(LEFT(TRIM(B3), 1), B3), LEN(B3))

becomes

MID(B3, 2, 21)

becomes

MID(" Martin Williams ", 2, 21)

and returns "Martin Williams ".

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5. Example 2 - remove trailing space characters only

The values in columns B and C are right-aligned in order to show that there are multiple trailing space characters in cells B4 and B6.

Excel formula in cell C3:

Explaining formula in cell C4

Step 1 - Count characters

The LEN function returns the number of characters in a cell or string.

LEN(B3)

becomes

LEN("     Martin Williams      ")

and returns 29.

Step 2 - Create dynamic cell reference

The INDEX function is most often used to get values, however, it can also be used to create cell references.

INDEX($A$1:$A$1000, LEN(B3))

becomes

INDEX($A$1:$A$1000, 20)

and returns $A$20.

Step 3 - Create a cell reference to a cell range

The colon character lets you build cell references in an Excel formula.

$A$1:INDEX($A$1:$A$1000, LEN(B3))

returns $A$1:$A$20.

Step 4 - Create numbers from 1 to n

The ROW function returns a number representing the row number of a given cell reference.

ROW($A$1:INDEX($A$1:$A$1000, LEN(B3)))

becomes

ROW($A$1:$A$20)

and returns {1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9; 10; 11; 12; 13; 14; 15; 16; 17; 18; 19; 20}.

Step 5 -Extract string based on character position and string length

The MID function extracts a substring from a string based on the starting position and the number of characters you want to extract.

MID(text, start_num, num_chars)

MID(B3, ROW($A$1:INDEX($A$1:$A$1000, LEN(B3))), 1)

becomes

MID("     Martin Williams      ", {1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9; 10; 11; 12; 13; 14; 15; 16; 17; 18; 19; 20}, 1)

and returns

{" "; " "; " "; " "; " "; "M"; "a"; "r"; "t"; "i"; "n"; " "; "W"; "i"; "l"; "l"; "i"; "a"; "m"; "s"; " "; " "; " "; " "; " "; " "; " "; " "; " "}.

Step 6 - Search for blanks

The SEARCH function returns a number representing the position of character at which a specific text string is found reading left to right.

SEARCH(find_text,within_text, [start_num])

SEARCH(" ", MID(B3, ROW($A$1:INDEX($A$1:$A$1000, LEN(B3))), 1))

becomes

SEARCH(" ", {" "; " "; " "; " "; " "; "M"; "a"; "r"; "t"; "i"; "n"; " "; "W"; "i"; "l"; "l"; "i"; "a"; "m"; "s"; " "; " "; " "; " "; " "; " "; " "; " "; " "})

and returns {1; 1; 1; 1; 1; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; 1; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1}.

Step 7 - Replae errors with corresponding number

The IFERROR function handles error values.

IFERROR(value, value_if_error)

IFERROR(SEARCH(" ", MID(B3, ROW($A$1:INDEX($A$1:$A$1000, LEN(B3))), 1)), ROW($A$1:INDEX($A$1:$A$1000, LEN(B3))))

becomes

IFERROR({1; 1; 1; 1; 1; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; 1; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1}, ROW($A$1:INDEX($A$1:$A$1000, LEN(B3))))

becomes

IFERROR({1; 1; 1; 1; 1; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; 1; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; #VALUE!; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1}, {1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9; 10; 11; 12; 13; 14; 15; 16; 17; 18; 19; 20})

and returns

{1; 1; 1; 1; 1; 6; 7; 8; 9; 10; 11; 1; 13; 14; 15; 16; 17; 18; 19; 20; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1}.

Step 8 - Calculate the largest number in the array

The MAX function returns the largest number in an array or cell range.

MAX(number1, [number2], ...)

MAX(IFERROR(SEARCH(" ", MID(B3, ROW($A$1:INDEX($A$1:$A$1000, LEN(B3))), 1)), ROW($A$1:INDEX($A$1:$A$1000, LEN(B3)))))

becomes

MAX({1; 1; 1; 1; 1; 6; 7; 8; 9; 10; 11; 1; 13; 14; 15; 16; 17; 18; 19; 20; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1})

and returns 20.

Step 9 - Extract string from value

The MID function extracts a substring from a string based on the starting position and the number of characters you want to extract.

MID(text, start_num, num_chars)

MID(B3, 1, MAX(IFERROR(SEARCH(" ", MID(B3, ROW($A$1:INDEX($A$1:$A$1000, LEN(B3))), 1)), ROW($A$1:INDEX($A$1:$A$1000, LEN(B3))))))

becomes

MID("     Martin Williams     ", 1, 20)

and returns "     Martin Williams".

Excel 365 formula

Excel 365 formula in cell C3:

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Useful links

TRIM function - Microsoft support
Excel TRIM function - quick way to remove extra spaces

'TRIM' function examples

Functions in 'Text' category

The TRIM function function is one of 29 functions in the 'Text' category.

Excel function categories

Excel categories

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