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How to Remove and Delete Comma Separators in Google Sheets Data

Commas can sometimes end up in unexpected places when importing data into Google Sheets, especially from CSV files. Removing these stray commas is important for maintaining data integrity. Fortunately, Google Sheets provides several simple methods to delete commas from text and numbers.

Why Remove Commas from Google Sheets Data

Here are some common reasons you may need to delete commas in Google Sheets:

  • Imported CSV data may contain extra commas if the file was not delimited properly
  • Formulas can output numbers with comma separators that need to be removed
  • Comma-delimited data may need to be converted to plain text for certain purposes
  • Stray commas can break formulas or cause unwanted text concatenation

Removing unnecessary commas prevents issues down the line when analyzing, formatting, or manipulating data.

Methods to Remove Commas in Google Sheets

There are a few easy ways to delete commas in Google Sheets cells:

Use Find and Replace

The Find and Replace tool allows you to search for commas across an entire sheet or multiple sheets and remove them globally.

Steps:

  1. Select the sheet(s) to search
  2. Navigate to Edit > Find and Replace
  3. Enter a comma in the Find field and leave Replace with blank
  4. Click Replace all

This will strip all commas from the selected cells in one click.

Apply a Custom Number Format

For cells containing numbers, applying a custom plain text format will remove comma separators.

Steps:

  1. Select the number cells
  2. Click Format > Number > Plain text
  3. This will convert the values to plain text without commas

Use the SUBSTITUTE Formula

The SUBSTITUTE formula can remove specific characters from text. Use it to delete commas in a cell.

=SUBSTITUTE(A2,",","")

This searches A2 for commas and replaces them with nothing, removing the comma.

Split on Commas, Then Join

For text strings with multiple comma delimiters, the SPLIT and JOIN functions can remove unwanted commas:

=JOIN(" ",SPLIT(A2,","))

Split divides the text on commas, then join recombines it with spaces instead.

Use Regexreplace to Remove Any Delimiter

To strip ALL delimiters (commas, spaces, etc.) in one formula, use the Regexreplace function:

=REGEXREPLACE(A2,"[,;\s]+","")

This removes commas, semicolons, and spaces.

Formatting Numbers Stored as Text

When removing commas from numbers by converting to plain text, keep in mind:

  • Formulas will still work, but may lose some functionality
  • Charts and sorting may be affected
  • Trailing zeros after decimals could be lost

In some cases it may be better to keep numbers formatted as numbers and hide commas using custom number formatting instead.

Removing Commas for Data Analysis

Eliminating unnecessary commas is an important step when preparing data for analysis in Google Sheets. Key things to remember:

  • Formulas can break with stray comma text concatenation
  • Pivot tables require consistent data formatting
  • Charts get messed up by text numbers with commas
  • Machine learning models need clean, comma-less input data

Spending time properly removing commas will pay off later when trying to work with your data.

Top Tips for Eliminating Commas

  • Find and Replace is the easiest way to globally remove commas
  • Use SUBSTITUTE to remove commas from individual cells
  • Split then Join text to remove specific delimiters
  • Stick to plain text for numbers when commas cause issues
  • Clean your imported CSV data before starting analysis

Following these simple comma removal tips will help prevent stray commas from derailing your Google Sheets projects.

Removing unnecessary commas from text and numbers is a common task in Google Sheets. With Find and Replace, SUBSTITUTE, and other built-in functions, deleting problematic commas is easy. Applying these methods ensures clean, accurate data for any project.

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