Excel Data Cleaning

Made Easy: Tips,

Tools and Examples

Pooja Pawar
Data cleaning is an essential step in preparing data for analysis. It
involves identifying and correcting errors, ensuring consistency, and
formatting data for usability. Excel offers numerous tools and
functions to make this process efficient. Here’s an in-depth guide to
cleaning data in Excel with detailed explanations and fresh examples.

1. Remove Duplicates
Duplicate data can lead to inaccurate analysis. Removing duplicates
ensures each record is unique.

 Steps to Remove Duplicates:

1. Select the dataset.

2. Go to the Data tab and click on Remove Duplicates.

3. Choose the columns where duplicates might exist (e.g.,

"Email" and "Order ID").

4. Click OK, and Excel will retain the first occurrence and
remove duplicates.

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  Example:

Customer Name Email Order ID

Lisa Ray [email protected] 10234

Tom Brown [email protected] 10235

Lisa Ray [email protected] 10234

 After removing duplicates, the duplicate record for Lisa Ray is

removed.

2. Handle Blank Cells

Blank cells can disrupt calculations or cause errors during analysis.
Depending on your needs, you can either fill, delete, or replace them.

 Find Blank Cells:

o Press Ctrl + G > Special > Blanks to highlight empty cells.

 Fill Blank Cells:

o Replace blanks with default values using Ctrl + H (Find and

Replace).

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 o Use formulas like =IF(A1="", "No Data", A1) to handle
blanks dynamically.

 Example:

Product Name Sales

Phone 500

Laptop

Tablet 300

 Replace blanks in the "Sales" column with 0, so the table

becomes:

Product Name Sales

Phone 500

Laptop 0

Tablet 300

3. Trim Extra Spaces

Extra spaces in data can cause issues with sorting, filtering, and
matching records. The TRIM function removes unnecessary spaces.

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  Formula: =TRIM(A1)

 What It Does: Removes all leading, trailing, and extra spaces,

leaving only single spaces between words.

 Example: Input: " Sarah Johnson " Output: "Sarah Johnson"

4. Standardize Data Types

Inconsistent data types, such as numbers stored as text or improperly
formatted dates, can cause errors in calculations.

 Convert Text to Numbers:

o Select the range > Click on the error flag (⚠️) > Select
Convert to Number.

o Alternatively, use =VALUE(A1).

 Convert Text to Date:

o Use Text to Columns:

1. Go to Data > Text to Columns.

2. Select the format (e.g., MDY, DMY) to convert text to

a proper date.

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  Example: Input: "01-15-2025" (as text)
Output: 01/15/2025 (as a date).

5. Use Find and Replace

The Find and Replace tool is an efficient way to standardize or
correct data.

 Steps:

1. Press Ctrl + H.

2. Enter the value to find and the replacement value.

3. Click Replace All.

 Example: Replace all instances of "NY" with "New York" in the

"City" column.

Name City

Michael Ross NY

Donna Paulsen LA

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  Output:

Name City

Michael Ross New York

Donna Paulsen LA

6. Standardize Text Formatting

To ensure consistency in text formatting, use Excel's text functions.

 Functions:

o =UPPER(A1) – Converts text to uppercase.

o =LOWER(A1) – Converts text to lowercase.

o =PROPER(A1) – Capitalizes the first letter of each word.

 Example: Input: "john doe" Output: "John Doe"

7. Split and Merge Data

 Split Data into Columns:

o Use the Text to Columns tool to split data by a delimiter

(e.g., commas, spaces, or tabs).

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 o Example: Split "Alice, New York, 25" into three columns:
Name, City, Age.

 Merge Data into One Column:

o Use =A1 & " " & B1 or =CONCATENATE(A1, " ", B1) to
combine data.

 Example:

First Name Last Name

Alex Carter

 Formula: =A1 & " " & B1

Output: "Alex Carter"

8. Handle Errors
Errors in data can interrupt analysis. Excel offers functions to manage
errors effectively.

 Formula: =IFERROR(A1/B1, "Error")

 What It Does: Replaces errors (e.g., division by zero) with a

custom message.

 Example: If cell B1 is 0, =A1/B1 will result in #DIV/0!. Using

=IFERROR(A1/B1, "Invalid") will return "Invalid" instead.
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9. Detect Outliers
Outliers can distort your analysis and should be identified and
addressed.

 Steps:

o Use the IQR Method:

1. Calculate Q1: =QUARTILE(A1:A100, 1)

2. Calculate Q3: =QUARTILE(A1:A100, 3)

3. Find the IQR: =Q3-Q1

4. Flag outliers: =IF(A1<(Q1-1.5*IQR) OR

A1>(Q3+1.5*IQR), "Outlier", "Normal").

10. Automate Cleaning with Power Query

Power Query simplifies repetitive cleaning tasks.

 Steps:

1. Go to Data > Get Data > From Table/Range.

2. Use options like Remove Duplicates, Filter Rows, Replace

Values, and Split Columns.

3. Load the cleaned data back into Excel.

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  Example: Combine monthly sales data from multiple sheets
into one consolidated table with duplicate removal.

11. Check for Consistency

 Use Data Validation to restrict invalid inputs.

o Go to Data > Data Validation > Set rules (e.g., numbers

only between 1-100).

 Example: Ensure only valid country codes (e.g., US, UK, CA) are
entered in the "Country" column.

12. Remove Unnecessary Data

 Delete Unused Rows/Columns:

o Highlight unused rows/columns > Right-click > Delete.

 Filter Irrelevant Data:

o Use filters to hide irrelevant data and delete it.

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13. Check Spelling
Misspellings can lead to inconsistent data. Use Spell Check (F7) to
find and correct errors.

 Example: Correct "Calfornia" to "California."

14. Document Changes

Maintain a log of all changes, either in a separate sheet or a
comments column.

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Practical Examples: Real-World Data Cleaning in
Excel

1. Cleaning Sales Data for a Retail Company

Customer Name Purchase Date Email Sales Amount Region

Emily Carter 01/05/2023 emily@gmail,com 500 East

Adam Jones 2023-06-15 [email protected] 800 East

Ava Johnson NA [email protected] 1000 West

Mark Lee 05-July-2023 [email protected] -200 East

Cleaning Steps:

1. Remove Extra Spaces: Use =TRIM(A2) to clean "Emily Carter."

2. Fix Date Format: Standardize "Purchase Date" to DD-MM-YYYY

using Text to Columns or formatting tools.

3. Correct Email Errors: Replace invalid characters in emails using

Find and Replace (e.g., ,com to .com).

4. Handle Missing Data: Replace "NA" in "Purchase Date" with a

placeholder like "01-01-1900" for incomplete records.

5. Correct Negative Values: Replace the negative sales amount (-

200) with 0 using =IF(A1<0, 0, A1).

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2. Cleaning Patient Records in a Healthcare System
Patient Name Age Appointment Date Gender Diagnosis

Sarah Smith 28 2023/12/01 Female Diabetes

Jake Thomas NA 01-Dec-2023 Male Hypertension

Mia Brown 35 2023-12-01 F Diabetes

Liam Davis 41 December 1, 2023 M Hypertension

Cleaning Steps:

1. Fill Missing Age Values: Replace "NA" in "Age" with the average
age using =AVERAGE(B2:B100) or a default value.

2. Standardize Gender Entries: Replace "F" and "M" with

"Female" and "Male" using Find and Replace.

3. Format Dates: Ensure all "Appointment Dates" are in the DD-

MM-YYYY format.

4. Check for Consistency: Ensure only allowed diagnoses

("Diabetes," "Hypertension") are present using Data Validation.

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3. Cleaning Employee Data for HR Reports
Employee Name Department Salary Date of Joining Email

John Williams Marketing 45000 15-03-2022 johnw@gmail,com

Ava Thompson Sales NA 2022-03-15 ava.thompson@domain

David Johnson Engineering -50000 March 15, 2022 [email protected]

Sophia Wilson HR 60000 15/03/2022 [email protected]

Cleaning Steps:

1. Correct Negative Salary: Replace -50000 with "Error" or 0 using

=IF(C2<0, "Error", C2).

2. Handle Missing Data: Replace "NA" in "Salary" with the median

salary value.

3. Standardize Date Format: Format all "Date of Joining" to DD-

MM-YYYY.

4. Correct Email Errors: Fix invalid email entries by replacing

",com" with ".com" and adding ".com" where missing.

5. Validate Departments: Ensure only valid departments (e.g.,

Marketing, Sales, HR) are present using Data Validation.

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4. Cleaning Product Inventory Data for an E-Commerce Store
Product Name Category Price Stock SKU

iPhone 13 Electronics 799 100 IP13-2023

Running Shoes Sports NA 200 RS123

Coffee Mug Home & Kitchen -15 500 CMUG_100

Laptop - Dell XPS Electronics 1200 50 DELLXPS,23

Cleaning Steps:

1. Handle Missing Price: Replace "NA" with the average price of

the same category using Pivot Tables or a formula.

2. Correct Negative Values: Replace negative prices (-15) with 0.

3. Fix SKU Format: Replace commas in SKUs with dashes using

Find and Replace.

4. Check Consistency in Categories: Ensure category names match

predefined values using Conditional Formatting.

5. Remove Extra Spaces: Clean up "Product Name" with

=TRIM(A2).

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5. Cleaning Customer Feedback Data for Marketing
Customer Name Rating Feedback Comments Feedback Date

Lily Anderson 5 Excellent service! 2023/11/15

Ethan Taylor NA Great product, slow delivery 15-Nov-2023

Emma Martinez 2 Needs improvement. November 15, 2023

Noah Harris -3 Poor packaging. 15/11/2023

Cleaning Steps:

1. Fill Missing Ratings: Replace "NA" with the average rating using
=AVERAGE(B2:B100).

2. Correct Negative Ratings: Replace negative ratings (-3) with 0

using =IF(B2<0, 0, B2).

3. Standardize Feedback Date: Convert all dates to DD-MM-YYYY

format using Text to Columns.

4. Clean Feedback Comments: Remove extra spaces or accidental

line breaks using =CLEAN(C2).

5. Validate Ratings: Ensure all ratings are within 1 to 5 using

Conditional Formatting or a validation rule.

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