CLEAN

• How to use CLEAN formula?
• Examples of using CLEAN formula
• CLEAN formula not working?
• Similar formulas to CLEAN

Usage

Use the CLEAN formula with the syntax shown below, it has 1 required parameter:

=CLEAN(text)

1. text (required):
   The text string that you want to remove non-printable characters from.

Examples

Cleaning up imported data

When you import data from external sources, it may contain non-printable characters that can cause issues with further processing. The CLEAN formula can be used to remove these characters and ensure that your data is clean and ready to use.

Removing line breaks

If you have a text string that contains line breaks or other invisible characters, you can use the CLEAN formula to remove them and make the text easier to read and work with.

Cleaning up user input

If you allow users to input text into your Google Sheet, they may inadvertently include non-printable characters that can cause issues with your formulas. The CLEAN formula can be used to remove these characters and ensure that your data is clean and ready to use.

Common Mistakes

Forgetting to include the text parameter

One common mistake when using the CLEAN formula is forgetting to include the text parameter. This will result in an error and the formula will not work as expected.

Using with numeric data

The CLEAN formula is designed to work with text strings and will not work with numeric data. If you try to use it with a numeric value, it will return an error.

Related Formulas

The following functions are similar to CLEAN or are often used with it in a formula:

• TRIM

  The TRIM formula removes any leading and trailing whitespace from text in a cell. This can be useful when importing data or when dealing with data that includes extra spaces. The TRIM function is commonly used in data cleaning and formatting.

• SUBSTITUTE

  The SUBSTITUTE formula is used to replace specific text in a string with new text. It is commonly used to replace all occurrences of a certain word or character within a larger string. The formula has the option to specify which occurrence to replace, or it will replace all occurrences by default.

• LOWER

  The LOWER formula converts all letters in a specified text string to lowercase. It takes one required parameter, which is the text string to be converted. This formula is commonly used to standardize text data for easier analysis and comparison.

• UPPER

  The UPPER formula in Google Sheets converts all the letters in a given text string to uppercase. It takes one required argument, the text to convert. This formula is commonly used to standardize text data or to make it easier to compare text values.

Learn More

You can learn more about the CLEAN Google Sheets function on Google Support.