Spreadsheet Practice

How to remove parentheses, dashes and spaces from phone numbers in Excel

Excel formula

=SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A2,"(",""),")",""),"-","")," ",""),".","")

Nest one SUBSTITUTE for each character to delete. In Google Sheets, =REGEXREPLACE(A2,"\D","") removes everything that isn't a digit.

Result on the example
one result per row in B2, filled down to B6
Works in
Microsoft 365 only
Google Sheets
Different formula, see below

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

Each SUBSTITUTE deletes one kind of character, and its result feeds the next, so after five of them only digits are left. The result is text, which keeps leading zeros and is what phone systems and lookups usually expect.

Google Sheets can do it in one step: \D means any character that isn't a digit.

=SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A2,"(",""),")",""),"-","")," ",""),".","")

Result"6125550142"

  1. A2"(612) 555-0142"

    The value in A2.

  2. SUBSTITUTE(A2,"(","")"612) 555-0142"

    SUBSTITUTE: Replaces matching text.

    • textA2"(612) 555-0142"
    • old_text"("
    • new_text""
  3. SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A2,"(",""),")","")"612 555-0142"

    SUBSTITUTE: Replaces matching text.

    • textSUBSTITUTE(A2,"(","")"612) 555-0142"
    • old_text")"
    • new_text""
  4. SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A2,"(",""),")",""),"-","")"612 5550142"

    SUBSTITUTE: Replaces matching text.

    • textSUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A2,"(",""),")","")"612 555-0142"
    • old_text"-"
    • new_text""
  5. SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A2,"(",""),")",""),"-","")," ","")"6125550142"

    SUBSTITUTE: Replaces matching text.

    • textSUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A2,"(",""),")",""),"-","")"612 5550142"
    • old_text" "
    • new_text""
  6. SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A2,"(",""),")",""),"-","")," ",""),".","")"6125550142"

    SUBSTITUTE: Replaces matching text.

    • textSUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A2,"(",""),")",""),"-","")," ","")"6125550142"
    • old_text"."
    • new_text""

In Google Sheets

Google Sheets needs a different formula: =REGEXREPLACE(A2,"\D",""). On the same data it gives the same result. Here it is running in Google Sheets mode.

Other ways to do it

Each one was run on the same example sheet.

FormulaResultWhen to use it
=CONCAT(IFERROR(MID(A2,SEQUENCE(LEN(A2)),1)*1,""))6125550142, 6515550187, 7635550021…Excel 365: keeps only the characters that are digits, whatever the punctuation is.

Common mistakes

  • A leading +1 country code leaves 11 digits. Keep the last 10 with RIGHT(…,10) for US numbers.
  • Extensions like "x204" stay in with SUBSTITUTE, and their digits are kept by the other versions. Split them off first.

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 parentheses, dashes and spaces from phone numbers

In B2, remove the parentheses, dashes, spaces and dots from the phone number so only the digits remain. Fill down to B6.

Questions

How do I format the digits again as (612) 555-0142?

Use ="("&LEFT(B2,3)&") "&MID(B2,4,3)&"-"&RIGHT(B2,4).

How do I get a number instead of text?

Wrap it in VALUE. Numbers with a leading 0 lose it.

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.