How to Remove Parentheses in Excel

If you’ve been working on an Excel sheet, you may have found yourself faced with the challenge of removing parentheses from some of the cells in your worksheet. Parentheses are often used to enclose negative numbers or indicate specific formulas, but they can be an eyesore if they’re not necessary. Fortunately, Excel offers a few different ways to remove parentheses, depending on your specific needs. In this blog post, we’ll cover some of the most common methods for removing parentheses in Excel, so you can clean up your spreadsheet and keep it looking professional.

Parentheses in Excel: Why You Might Want to Remove Them

Excel is an incredibly versatile tool for working with data, but it’s not always easy to get your data looking exactly the way you want it. One common challenge is dealing with parentheses that are automatically added to certain cells.

There are a few reasons Excel might add parentheses:

• When you enter a formula that returns a negative value, Excel automatically adds parentheses to indicate the negative value. This can be helpful, but it can also make your data harder to read.
• If you’re working with imported data, it’s possible that parentheses were included in the original data source.
• You may have accidentally entered parentheses yourself, and you’re ready to remove them to clean up your data.

Method 1: Remove Parentheses Using Find and Replace

The first method we’ll cover is using Excel’s Find and Replace feature to remove parentheses. This is a simple and effective option if you want to remove all parentheses throughout your worksheet.

1. Select the range of cells where you want to remove parentheses.
2. Press Ctrl + H to open the Find and Replace dialog box.
3. In the “Find what” field, type “(“
4. In the “Replace with” field, type nothing (i.e., leave it blank).
5. Click “Replace All.”

Method 2: Remove Parentheses Using the VALUE Function

If you’re working specifically with cells that contain negative values and you want to remove the parentheses, you can use Excel’s VALUE function.

The VALUE function converts a text value that represents a number to a numeric value. When you use the VALUE function on a cell that contains a negative number with parentheses, the function automatically removes the parentheses and returns the value as a negative number.

1. Create a new column next to the column with the values containing parentheses.
2. In the first cell of the new column, enter the formula: =VALUE(cell with parentheses). For example, if the cell with parentheses is A2, enter =VALUE(A2).
3. Copy this formula down the entire column.
4. Select the entire new column and copy it.
5. Paste the new column as values into the original column with the parentheses.

Method 3: Remove Parentheses Using the SUBSTITUTE Function

If you want to remove parentheses from a cell that contains non-negative text values, you can use the SUBSTITUTE function. This function replaces text in a string with new text, so you can use it to remove the parentheses.

1. Create a new column next to the column with the values containing parentheses.
2. In the first cell of the new column, enter the formula: =SUBSTITUTE(cell with parentheses,"(",""). For example, if the cell with parentheses is A2, enter =SUBSTITUTE(A2,"(","").
3. Copy this formula down the entire column.
4. Select the entire new column and copy it.
5. Paste the new column as values into the original column with the parentheses.

By using these methods, you can quickly and easily remove parentheses from your Excel worksheet. Whether you’re dealing with negative numbers, imported data, or accidentally added parentheses, there’s a method that will work for you.

Formatting Your Removed Parentheses

Now that you know how to remove parentheses in Excel, you might be wondering how to get the data to look the way you want when you’re finished. Here are a few tips:

Use Custom Number Formatting

If you want to keep the negative numbers in your worksheet but remove the parentheses, you can use custom number formatting to achieve this. Here’s how:

1. Select the range of cells you want to format.
2. Choose “Format Cells” from the Format dropdown in the Home tab.
3. In the Format Cells dialog box, select “Custom” from the Category list.
4. In the “Type” field, enter the following format code: #,###;#,###-

This code will display positive numbers without any formatting, and will display negative numbers with a minus sign.

Use Paste Special to Remove Formatting

If you’ve used the VALUE or SUBSTITUTE functions to remove parentheses and the results are not formatted the way you want, you can use Paste Special to remove the formatting. Here’s how:

1. Copy the cells you want to format.
2. Choose “Paste Special” from the Paste dropdown in the Home tab.
3. Check the “Values” box, and uncheck all other boxes.
4. Click “OK.”

Common Issues with Parentheses in Excel

Here are a few common issues you may run into when working with parentheses in Excel:

Nested Parentheses

If you’re working with complex formulas, you may find that you have nested parentheses (i.e., parentheses within parentheses). In this case, you’ll need to use a more advanced method to remove parentheses or adjust your formula so that you don’t have nested parentheses.

Other Special Characters

Parentheses are just one type of special character you may encounter in Excel. Other common special characters include currency symbols, percent signs, and commas. If you need to remove these characters, you can use similar methods as outlined above or use Excel’s built-in formatting options.

Wrapping Up

Excel is a powerful tool for working with data, but sometimes the formatting can get in the way of your analysis. By understanding how to remove parentheses in Excel, you can clean up your data and present it in a way that’s easier to read and analyze. With a little practice, you’ll be an expert at removing parentheses and getting your data looking just the way you want it.

FAQ

To help you better understand how to remove parentheses in Excel, we’ve put together this FAQ of common questions:

Can I remove parentheses from only certain cells?

Yes, if you only want to remove parentheses from certain cells, you can select those cells and use the Find and Replace function, the VALUE function, or the SUBSTITUTE function. You can also use custom number formatting to keep negative numbers but remove the parentheses.

What if I want to keep the parentheses?

If you want to keep the parentheses, you don’t need to do anything. Excel adds parentheses to negative values by default, but these parentheses won’t affect any calculations or analysis you do with the data.

What if my formula contains nested parentheses?

If your formula contains nested parentheses, you’ll need to use a more advanced method to remove them. One option is to adjust your formula so that you don’t have nested parentheses. Another option is to use a VBA macro to remove the parentheses.

Can I remove other special characters besides parentheses?

Yes, Excel offers several ways to remove other special characters, including currency symbols, percent signs, and commas. You can use Find and Replace, the VALUE function, the SUBSTITUTE function, or custom number formatting to remove these characters.

Will removing parentheses affect my data in any way?

Removing parentheses won’t affect the underlying data in any way. Excel adds parentheses to negative numbers by default, but these parentheses are just for formatting purposes and won’t impact any calculations or analysis you do with the data.