Spreadsheet Practice

How to remove non-breaking spaces in Excel

Formula (Excel and Google Sheets)

=TRIM(SUBSTITUTE(A2,CHAR(160)," "))

Turn them into normal spaces, then trim: =TRIM(SUBSTITUTE(A2,CHAR(160)," ")). TRIM on its own leaves non-breaking spaces in place.

Result on the example
one result per row in B2, filled down to B6
Works in
Every current version
Google Sheets
Same formula

See it work

The formula is already in B2, filled down to B6. Change any input and the result updates, or edit the formula to experiment.

How it works

Text copied from web pages often uses the non-breaking space, character 160, which looks like a space but isn't one. TRIM only removes normal spaces (character 32), so it misses them, and lookups fail on values that look identical. SUBSTITUTE turns each CHAR(160) into a normal space, and TRIM then removes the extras.

=TRIM(SUBSTITUTE(A2,CHAR(160)," "))

Result"Desk lamp"

  1. A2"Desk lamp"

    The value in A2.

  2. CHAR(160)" "

    CHAR: Character for a code number.

    • number160
  3. SUBSTITUTE(A2,CHAR(160)," ")"Desk lamp"

    SUBSTITUTE: Replaces matching text.

    • textA2"Desk lamp"
    • old_textCHAR(160)" "
    • new_text" "
  4. TRIM(SUBSTITUTE(A2,CHAR(160)," "))"Desk lamp"

    TRIM: Removes extra spaces, leaving single spaces between words.

    • textSUBSTITUTE(A2,CHAR(160)," ")"Desk lamp"

In Google Sheets

The same formula works in Google Sheets: =TRIM(SUBSTITUTE(A2,CHAR(160)," ")). We ran it in Google Sheets mode on the same data and it returns the same results.

Other ways to do it

Each one was run on the same example sheet.

FormulaResultWhen to use it
=SUBSTITUTE(A2,CHAR(160),"")Desklamp, Office chair, Monitor arm…Different resultDeletes them instead. Right for numbers like "1 250", wrong between words. Words run together: "Desklamp", "Standingdesk".

Common mistakes

  • CLEAN doesn't remove character 160 either; it only handles characters 0 to 31.
  • In Find and Replace, you can type a non-breaking space with Alt+0160 on the number pad.

Try it yourself

Same data, empty answer cell. Your formula is graded instantly, then re-checked on changed data, so a typed-in number won't pass.

Remove non-breaking spaces

In B2, replace the non-breaking spaces with normal spaces and trim the result, then fill down to B6.

Questions

How do I check whether a cell has non-breaking spaces?

Search for the character: =ISNUMBER(FIND(CHAR(160),A2)).

How do I fix numbers that contain them?

Remove them and convert: =VALUE(SUBSTITUTE(A2,CHAR(160),"")).

Checked by running on 2026-10-30: every formula and result on this page was calculated by the Spreadsheet Practice formula engine, in both Excel and Google Sheets modes.