{"id":20328,"date":"2019-04-04T09:00:27","date_gmt":"2019-04-04T14:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingintowallstreet.com\/biws\/kb\/%kb_category%\/how-to-clean-up-data-in-excel\/"},"modified":"2024-09-11T19:08:13","modified_gmt":"2024-09-12T00:08:13","slug":"how-to-clean-data-in-excel","status":"publish","type":"biws_kb","link":"https:\/\/breakingintowallstreet.com\/kb\/excel\/how-to-clean-data-in-excel\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Clean Data in Excel (PC\/Windows Version) [Tutorial Video] (10:20)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_81 counter-flat ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">How to Clean Data in Excel (PC\/Windows Version)<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingintowallstreet.com\/kb\/excel\/how-to-clean-data-in-excel\/#How_to_Clean_Data_in_Excel_Part_1_Typical_Tasks_Functions_and_Shortcuts\">How to Clean Data in Excel, Part 1: Typical Tasks, Functions, and Shortcuts<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingintowallstreet.com\/kb\/excel\/how-to-clean-data-in-excel\/#How_to_Clean_Data_in_Excel_Part_2_Adding_Columns_and_Text_to_Columns\">How to Clean Data in Excel, Part 2: Adding Columns and Text to Columns<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingintowallstreet.com\/kb\/excel\/how-to-clean-data-in-excel\/#How_to_Clean_Data_in_Excel_Part_3_Fixing_Each_Column\">How to Clean Data in Excel, Part 3: Fixing Each Column<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingintowallstreet.com\/kb\/excel\/how-to-clean-data-in-excel\/#How_to_Clean_Data_in_Excel_Part_4_Fixing_Annoying_Remaining_Problems\">How to Clean Data in Excel, Part 4: Fixing Annoying, Remaining Problems<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n<style>.enteremail__large--inline{margin:60px auto!important}<\/style>\n<p><strong>NOTE:<\/strong> This tutorial on how to clean data in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-au\/microsoft-365\/excel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Excel<\/a> uses the PC\/Windows version shortcuts. We do cover Mac Excel shortcuts in our full <a href=\"https:\/\/breakingintowallstreet.com\/excel-financial-modeling-fundamentals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Excel &amp; Financial Modeling Fundamental course,<\/a> but they&#8217;re presented in completely separate sets of lessons.<\/p>\n<p>Below, we will list the key PC\/Windows shortcuts as well as Mac alternatives.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_Clean_Data_in_Excel_Part_1_Typical_Tasks_Functions_and_Shortcuts\"><\/span>How to Clean Data in Excel, Part 1: Typical Tasks, Functions, and Shortcuts<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Our task here is simple: we have customer order data, but the addresses are not presented in an ideal format.<\/p>\n<p>We want to separate the entire &#8220;Address&#8221; for each order into Street Address, City, State, and ZIP Code fields:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-22021 size-large\" title=\"Customer Order Data in Excel\" src=\"https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075518\/Clean-Data-01-1024x489.jpg\" alt=\"Customer Order Data in Excel\" width=\"1024\" height=\"489\" srcset=\"https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075518\/Clean-Data-01-1024x489.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075518\/Clean-Data-01-300x143.jpg 300w, https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075518\/Clean-Data-01-768x366.jpg 768w, https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075518\/Clean-Data-01.jpg 1140w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/> To do that, we will use the following functions and shortcuts:<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Navigation, Selection, and Row\/Column Shortcuts:<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Ctrl + Spacebar:<\/strong> Select Column (same in Mac Excel)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Shift + Spacebar:<\/strong> Select Row (same in Mac Excel)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Shift + Ctrl + Arrow Keys:<\/strong> Select to Boundary (same in Mac Excel)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Shift + Arrow Keys:<\/strong> Select Multiple Cells (same in Mac Excel)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Alt, I, C:<\/strong> Insert Column (Ctrl + Shift + + in Mac Excel)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Alt, O, C, W:<\/strong> Change Column Width (No equivalent in Mac Excel)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Alt, O, C, A:<\/strong> Auto-Fit Column Width (No equivalent in Mac Excel)<\/p>\n<p><strong>F2:<\/strong> Edit Cell (same in Modern Mac Excel; may need Ctrl + U in older versions)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Alt, E, D:<\/strong> Delete Cells\/Rows\/Columns (Ctrl + &#8211; in Mac Excel)<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Copy\/Paste\/Formatting Shortcuts:<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Ctrl + 1:<\/strong> Format Dialog Box (\u2318 + 1 in Mac Excel)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ctrl + H:<\/strong> Replace (same in Mac Excel)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Alt, E, S, F:<\/strong> Paste Formulas (Ctrl + \u2318 + V, F in Mac Excel)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Alt, E, S, V:<\/strong> Paste Values (Ctrl + \u2318 + V, V in Mac Excel)<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Useful Functions for Cleaning Data in Excel:<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Alt, A, E:<\/strong> Text to Columns function (No equivalent in Mac Excel)<\/p>\n<p><strong>=PROPER:<\/strong> Makes first letter in each word uppercase (same in Mac Excel)<\/p>\n<p><strong>=TRIM:<\/strong> Removes extra spaces (same in Mac Excel)<\/p>\n<p><strong>=UPPER:<\/strong> Makes text all uppercase (same in Mac Excel)<\/p>\n<p><strong>=SUBSTITUTE:<\/strong> Replace text within text based on search (same in Mac Excel)<\/p>\n<div class='code-block code-block-4' style='margin: 8px 0; clear: both;'>\n<div class=\"kb-adinsert-modal\">\n    <div class=\"kb-adinsert-top\">\n      <div class=\"media\">\n          <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-28448\" src=\"https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/07054849\/Excel-VBA-Ico.png\" alt=\"Excel & VBA\" width=\"128\" height=\"128\" \/>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"content\">\n          <h3>Learn Excel Shortcuts, Formulas, Graphs, Data, and VBA for Automation<\/h3>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"full_text\">\n    \t<ul>\n        \t<li>\n            \t<h4>Become a shortcut, formula & formatting machine<\/h4>\n              <p>Excel will be your \u201cnative language\u201d after you finish this course<\/p>\n\t\t\t    <\/li>\n          <li>\n          \t<h4>Learn the skills with dozens of practice exercises<\/h4>\n            <p>Learn by doing and check your work against the solutions<\/p>\n\t\t\t    <\/li>\n          <li>\n          \t<h4>Shave hours off your workday with VBA and macros<\/h4>\n            <p>Automate repetitive tasks, format spreadsheets quickly, and more\n\n<\/p>\n\t\t\t  <\/li>\n      <\/ul>\n        \n      <a class=\"cta-link orange-button-medium\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingintowallstreet.com\/excel-vba\/\" target=\"_blank\">Full Details<\/a>\n      \n      <a class=\"cta-link orange-button-medium bg-blue\" href=\"https:\/\/biws-support.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/Course-Outlines\/Excel-VBA-Course-Outline.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Short Outline<\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_Clean_Data_in_Excel_Part_2_Adding_Columns_and_Text_to_Columns\"><\/span><strong>How to Clean Data in Excel, Part 2: Adding Columns and Text to Columns<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>We start this process by inserting a few extra columns to the right of the Address, City, State, and ZIP column, and then using the Text to Columns function (Alt, A, E) to separate the data based on the commas:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-22022 size-large\" title=\"Text to Columns Function\" src=\"https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075517\/Clean-Data-02-1024x591.jpg\" alt=\"Text to Columns Function\" width=\"1024\" height=\"591\" srcset=\"https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075517\/Clean-Data-02-1024x591.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075517\/Clean-Data-02-300x173.jpg 300w, https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075517\/Clean-Data-02-768x443.jpg 768w, https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075517\/Clean-Data-02.jpg 1299w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-22023\" title=\"Text to Columns Function, Part 2\" src=\"https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075517\/Clean-Data-03.jpg\" alt=\"Text to Columns Function, Part 2\" width=\"507\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075517\/Clean-Data-03.jpg 507w, https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075517\/Clean-Data-03-300x244.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 507px) 100vw, 507px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We select cell F3, right next to the original data, for the destination cell, and then click &#8220;Finish&#8221;:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-22024 size-full\" title=\"Text to Columns Function, Part 3\" src=\"https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075516\/Clean-Data-04.jpg\" alt=\"Text to Columns Function, Part 3\" width=\"898\" height=\"652\" srcset=\"https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075516\/Clean-Data-04.jpg 898w, https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075516\/Clean-Data-04-300x218.jpg 300w, https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075516\/Clean-Data-04-768x558.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 898px) 100vw, 898px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We can now delete the original data column, select all the new data, and then cut and paste it into the original column (E):<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-22025 size-full\" title=\"How to Clean Data in Excel - Cutting Data\" src=\"https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075516\/Clean-Data-05.jpg\" alt=\"How to Clean Data in Excel - Cutting Data\" width=\"776\" height=\"435\" srcset=\"https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075516\/Clean-Data-05.jpg 776w, https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075516\/Clean-Data-05-300x168.jpg 300w, https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075516\/Clean-Data-05-768x431.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 776px) 100vw, 776px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>At this point, we can also change the title of each column to something more appropriate, such as Address, City, State, and ZIP.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_Clean_Data_in_Excel_Part_3_Fixing_Each_Column\"><\/span><strong>How to Clean Data in Excel, Part 3: Fixing Each Column<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>We can fix the ZIP Code formatting by selecting the whole column with Shift + Ctrl + Down, pressing Ctrl + 1, and then going to Number, Special, and Zip Code:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-22026 size-full\" title=\"How to Clean Data in Excel - ZIP Codes\" src=\"https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075515\/Clean-Data-06.jpg\" alt=\"How to Clean Data in Excel - ZIP Codes\" width=\"607\" height=\"623\" srcset=\"https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075515\/Clean-Data-06.jpg 607w, https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075515\/Clean-Data-06-292x300.jpg 292w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 607px) 100vw, 607px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The City and State columns have extra spaces at the beginning and end, as well as improper capitalization. To fix these issues, we can use the PROPER and TRIM functions for the City and UPPER and TRIM for the State:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-22027 size-full\" title=\"PROPER and TRIM Functions\" src=\"https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075515\/Clean-Data-07.jpg\" alt=\"PROPER and TRIM Functions\" width=\"491\" height=\"102\" srcset=\"https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075515\/Clean-Data-07.jpg 491w, https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075515\/Clean-Data-07-300x62.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 491px) 100vw, 491px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-22028 size-full\" title=\"UPPER and TRIM Functions\" src=\"https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075515\/Clean-Data-08.jpg\" alt=\"UPPER and TRIM Functions\" width=\"446\" height=\"94\" srcset=\"https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075515\/Clean-Data-08.jpg 446w, https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075515\/Clean-Data-08-300x63.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 446px) 100vw, 446px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We can then copy both these formulas, select to the bottom with Shift + Ctrl and the arrow keys, and then use Alt, E, S, F to paste these as formulas:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-22029 size-full\" title=\"How to Clean Data in Excel - Pasting Formulas\" src=\"https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075514\/Clean-Data-09.jpg\" alt=\"How to Clean Data in Excel - Pasting Formulas\" width=\"532\" height=\"466\" srcset=\"https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075514\/Clean-Data-09.jpg 532w, https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075514\/Clean-Data-09-300x263.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 532px) 100vw, 532px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Now, we want to <strong>copy and paste these as<\/strong> <strong>values (Ctrl + C and then Alt, E, S, V)<\/strong> &#8211; this is because we want to delete the old data.<\/p>\n<p>When we delete that old data, these formulas will stop working, so we need to paste everything as values first so that our spreadsheet saves these new, correct values.<\/p>\n<p>Then, we can cut and paste these over the original, poorly formatted data with Ctrl + X and Ctrl + V:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-22030 size-full\" title=\"Cutting and Pasting Data\" src=\"https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075514\/Clean-Data-10.jpg\" alt=\"Cutting and Pasting Data\" width=\"491\" height=\"331\" srcset=\"https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075514\/Clean-Data-10.jpg 491w, https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075514\/Clean-Data-10-300x202.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 491px) 100vw, 491px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Next, we can select these three columns with Shift + Ctrl + arrow keys and then use the Alt, O, C, A shortcut to auto-fit the column widths based on the widest item in each column:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-22031 size-full\" title=\"Auto-Fit Column Width\" src=\"https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075513\/Clean-Data-11.jpg\" alt=\"Auto-Fit Column Width\" width=\"530\" height=\"367\" srcset=\"https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075513\/Clean-Data-11.jpg 530w, https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075513\/Clean-Data-11-300x208.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 530px) 100vw, 530px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Finally, to fix the Street Address column, we can use the PROPER function to capitalize each word correctly. We do not need TRIM because these names do not have extra spaces.<\/p>\n<p>Once again, we enter PROPER, copy and paste the formula down with Ctrl + C and Alt, E, S, F, and then copy and paste values with Alt, E, S, V:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-22032 size-large\" title=\"Fixing Address Data with PROPER\" src=\"https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075513\/Clean-Data-12-1024x252.jpg\" alt=\"Fixing Address Data with PROPER\" width=\"1024\" height=\"252\" srcset=\"https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075513\/Clean-Data-12-1024x252.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075513\/Clean-Data-12-300x74.jpg 300w, https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075513\/Clean-Data-12-768x189.jpg 768w, https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075513\/Clean-Data-12.jpg 1222w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Once we&#8217;ve pasted these as values, we can then press Ctrl + X to cut this entire column and paste it over the original, incorrectly formatted data:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-22033 size-full\" title=\"How to Clean Data in Excel - Pasting Remaining Data\" src=\"https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075512\/Clean-Data-13.jpg\" alt=\"How to Clean Data in Excel - Pasting Remaining Data\" width=\"916\" height=\"463\" srcset=\"https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075512\/Clean-Data-13.jpg 916w, https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075512\/Clean-Data-13-300x152.jpg 300w, https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075512\/Clean-Data-13-768x388.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 916px) 100vw, 916px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_Clean_Data_in_Excel_Part_4_Fixing_Annoying_Remaining_Problems\"><\/span><strong>How to Clean Data in Excel, Part 4: Fixing Annoying, Remaining Problems<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>If you take a close look at this data, you&#8217;ll find a few small problems &#8211; for example:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-22034 size-full\" title=\"How to Clean Data in Excel - Direction Abbreviations\" src=\"https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075512\/Clean-Data-14.jpg\" alt=\"How to Clean Data in Excel - Direction Abbreviations\" width=\"696\" height=\"594\" srcset=\"https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075512\/Clean-Data-14.jpg 696w, https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075512\/Clean-Data-14-300x256.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We could try to use the SUBSTITUTE function to fix these issues, but it&#8217;s easiest to do a simple Find and Replace with Ctrl + H, where we search for &#8221; Sw &#8221; or &#8221; Se &#8221; and replace them with &#8221; SW &#8221; and &#8221; SE &#8221; respectively (and do something similar for Nw and Ne):<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-22035 size-full\" title=\"How to Clean Data in Excel - Direction Abbreviations, Part 2\" src=\"https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075511\/Clean-Data-15.jpg\" alt=\"How to Clean Data in Excel - Direction Abbreviations, Part 2\" width=\"687\" height=\"749\" srcset=\"https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075511\/Clean-Data-15.jpg 687w, https:\/\/biwsuploads-assest.s3.amazonaws.com\/biws\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/19075511\/Clean-Data-15-275x300.jpg 275w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 687px) 100vw, 687px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>With that done, we can then auto-fit the Street Address column with Alt, O, C, A and then delete the blank columns on the right-hand side.<\/p>\n<p>Cleaning up data in Excel is not that complicated if you know the appropriate shortcuts and functions &#8211; it&#8217;s just a matter of practice and becoming very efficient with the keyboard shortcut.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this tutorial on how to clean data in Excel, you\u2019ll complete a practice exercise to clean up and separate address data into separate columns and fix problems with the capitalization and punctuation using the text and formatting functions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":29302,"template":"","class_list":["post-20328","biws_kb","type-biws_kb","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","kb_category-excel"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingintowallstreet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/biws_kb\/20328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingintowallstreet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/biws_kb"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingintowallstreet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/biws_kb"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingintowallstreet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingintowallstreet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}