How to Use TRIM in Excel to Remove Extra Spaces

Use the TRIM function in Excel to remove all extra spaces from text except for single spaces between words. Enter =TRIM(A1) to clean the text in cell A1 by removing leading, trailing, and multiple spaces.

Syntax

The TRIM function has a simple syntax with one argument:

• TRIM(text): text is the cell or text string you want to clean.

This function removes all spaces from the text except for single spaces between words.

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=TRIM(text)

Example

This example shows how TRIM removes extra spaces from a text string in cell A1.

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A1: "  Hello   world!  "
B1: =TRIM(A1)

Output

B1: "Hello world!"

Common Pitfalls

People often expect TRIM to remove non-breaking spaces or other invisible characters, but it only removes regular spaces (ASCII 32). Also, TRIM does not remove spaces inside words, only extra spaces between words.

Right: =TRIM(SUBSTITUTE(A1, CHAR(160), " ")) is needed if your text has non-breaking spaces.

Use TRIM alone only for normal spaces.

Quick Reference

Function	Purpose	Example
TRIM(text)	Removes extra spaces except single spaces between words	=TRIM(A1)
SUBSTITUTE(text, CHAR(160), " ")	Replaces non-breaking spaces with normal spaces	=SUBSTITUTE(A1, CHAR(160), " ")
TRIM(SUBSTITUTE(text, CHAR(160), " "))	Removes extra spaces including non-breaking spaces	=TRIM(SUBSTITUTE(A1, CHAR(160), " "))

Key Takeaways

Use =TRIM(cell) to remove extra spaces except single spaces between words.

TRIM removes leading, trailing, and multiple spaces inside text.

TRIM does not remove non-breaking spaces; use SUBSTITUTE with CHAR(160) for those.

TRIM keeps single spaces between words intact.

Always check your data for special space characters if TRIM alone doesn't clean text.