Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Office 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Cleaning Text.
Excel includes an interesting worksheet function whose duty it is to make sure that your text is "clean." By this, Excel means that your text contains only printable characters. Thus, the function removes certain non-printable characters and control codes from your text. The syntax is rather simple, as follows:
=CLEAN(text)
All you need to do is include the text, or a reference to a cell that contains text. In doing some testing, it appears that the function removes anything with an ANSI value of 1 through 31, as well as the values 129, 141, 143, 144, and 157.
So why would you use the CLEAN function? If you import information from some mainframe or on-line services, the non-printable codes could be interspersed in the information you receive. This can cause problems printing or viewing the information correctly. CLEAN can help rectify those problems.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (10350) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Office 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Cleaning Text.
Professional Development Guidance! Four world-class developers offer start-to-finish guidance for building powerful, robust, and secure applications with Excel. The authors show how to consistently make the right design decisions and make the most of Excel's powerful features. Check out Professional Excel Development today!
Indirect references can be very helpful in formulas, but getting your head around how they work can sometimes be ...
Discover MoreThe INT function allows you to convert a value to an integer. The effect the function has depends on the characteristics ...
Discover MoreThe VLOOKUP function, like other lookup functions in Excel, is not case sensitive. In other words, it doesn't matter ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
2014-11-18 06:02:33
Willy Vanhaelen
@ Micky
These are printable characters so CLEAN must leave them untouched.
Alt+0254 is the lower case thorn letter: þ still used in Icelandic alphabet (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorn_%28letter%29)
Alt+0160 is a non breaking space, often used in HTML, it prints like a space.
2014-11-17 11:36:49
Michael (Micky) Avidan
@Willy,
The TWO most frequent non-printable characters I have met are:
Alt+0254 and: Alt+0160.
If I recall correctly - the CLEAN function does not even "tickles" them.
Michael (Micky) Avidan
“Microsoft® Answers" - Wiki author & Forums Moderator
“Microsoft®” MVP – Excel (2009-2015)
ISRAEL
2014-11-16 06:53:13
Willy Vanhaelen
Trim acts on spaces: character 32.
Clean removes non printable characters.
See Help for more details.
2014-11-15 23:54:04
venkat
what is the difference betwen TRIM and CLEAN
Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2019 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Office 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: 
Comments