Remove brackets (brackets) in Excel [4 Easy Ways] (2023)

Most of my time in Excel is spent cleaning up data I get from various sources.

A common task I often need to perform is removing brackets (or brackets) from the cells in a dataset.

As with almost everything else in Excel, there are multiple ways you can remove the brackets from cells.

In this tutorial, I'll show you four such methods that you can use, depending on the structure of your dataset or your personal preference. Each method has its pros and cons, and I'd like to list them so that you can decide which method is best for you.

Note: In this article, I show how to remove brackets () but you can use the same methods to remove brackets [].

Use Flash Fill to remove brackets

Flash fillis a great tool that I often use while doingsimple data cleaningin Excel (such as removing brackets or brackets from cells).

To use Flash Fill, you must first manually enter the result for one of the cells in the adjacent cell.

When you enter the result for one of the cells in the adjacent cell and then use Flash Fill, the pattern is identified (using the result you manually entered) and the same is applied to the entire column.

Let me show you how it works with an example.

Below is a dataset where I've followed the names by the name of the state. The state name is in brackets which I want to remove.

Here are the steps to do this:

1. In cell B2, which is in the column next to our dataset, enter the expected result -Richard Hanson, Texas

2. Select cell B3
3. Hold down the Control key and press the E key (this is theKeyboard shortcutto run Flash Fill)

Once you run Flash Fill you will notice that the entire column is filled and the brackets/brackets are removed.removed from the text.

You can also run Flash Fill by going to the Home tab, clicking the Fill icon (in the Edit group), and then clicking the Flash Fill icon.

Note: Since Flash Fill works by identifying the pattern in the result you provided, it may identify an incorrect pattern and give you the wrong result. If that happens, try again by giving it two or three examples of the desired result and then running the Flash Fill.

Below are the pros and cons of this method of removing brackets:

Read also:Show negative numbers in brackets in Excel

Find and replace to remove brackets

Find and replace is another easy way to find and remove all brackets in your data set.

Since the parentheses contain an opening parenthesis and a closing parenthesis, you must use Find and Replace twice (to remove the two parentheses individually).

Below is an example of a dataset where I followed the names in parentheses with the name of the US state, and I just want to remove the parentheses.

Here are the steps to do this:

1. Select the data set from which you want to remove the parentheses
2. Click the Home tab

3. Click the Find & Select icon in the Edit group

4. Click the Replace option. This opens the Find and Replace dialog box.

5. In the Search for field, type (.

6. Click Replace All. This replaces all instances of ( in the dataset.

7. Now type ) in the 'Search for' field.

8. Click Replace All. This replaces all instances of ) in the dataset.

And finished!

While this method may not be as fast as using Flash Fill, it is fast enough if you are comfortable using Find and Replace.

Pro-tip: Use the keyboard shortcut Control + H to open the Find and Replace dialog box. To do this, hold down the Control key and then press the H key.

Now let's see the pros and cons of this method of removing brackets in Excel.

Formulas to remove brackets

If you want more control while removing the parentheses from your data set, consider using the formula method.

This can be done using theREPLACE function, which identifies the position of the opening and closing parentheses and replaces them with a null string.

Below is a dataset where I want to remove the brackets from the state names.

Here's the formula that will do this:

=REPLACE(REPLACE(A2,"(","")),")","")

Enter the above formula in cell B2 and thenapply it to the whole column(you can copy and paste the cell containing the formula into other cells oruse the fill leverand drag it down).

The formula above uses two replacement functions.

The first SUBSTITUTE function finds the position of the opening parenthesis ("(") in the cell and replaces it with a null string.

The result of the first SUBSTITUTE function is then used by the second SUBSTITUTE function to find the closing parenthesis ("") and replace it with a null string.

If you don't need the original data, you canconvert the formula valuesin column B in static values ​​and then delete the original data.

Now let's see the pros and cons of using formula method to remove brackets/brackets in Excel.

VBA to remove brackets

And the last way to remove brackets in Excel is by using a simple VBA formula.

Since this method requires a bit of setup, it is more suitable for people who need to do this on a regular basis.

So you can set up the VBA code once and then run it with a simple keyboard shortcut or a button click to remove brackets from the selected data set.

I'll show you how this method works.

Below I have the same data set where I have the names in column A along with the state names in parentheses and I want to remove these parentheses.

Here are the steps to do this:

1. Select the data set.
2. Hold down the ALT key and press the F11 keyopen de Visual Basic-editor. You can also go to the Developer tab and then click the Visual Basic icon.
3. In the VB Editor, click the Insert option in the menu, and then click the Module option. This will insert a new module for the workbook.

4. Copy and paste the below VBA code into the module code window.

'Code developed by Sumit Bansal of https://trumpexcel.comSub RemoveParentheses() Dim rng As Range Dim cell As Range ' Set the current selection as the range to use Set rng = Selection ' Loop through each cell in the selection For Each cell In rng ' Remove brackets cell.Value = Replace(cell.Value, "(", "") cell.Value = Replace(cell.Value, ")", "") Next cellEnd Sub

5. Nastyrun this macro code, place the cursor anywhere in the code, then press the F5 key (or click the run macro icon in the toolbar)

Once you run the above VBA code, it will go through each cell in the selection and then replace the opening and closing brackets with a null string.

Once you have this macro in your workbook, you can reuse it multiple times in that workbook. You can also assign a keyboard shortcut to the macro so that you can easily run it without opening the VB Editor.

Follow the steps below to assign a keyboard shortcut to a macro:

1. Click theDeveloper tab in the ribbon
2. Click the Macros option

3. Select the macro name to which you want to assign a keyboard shortcut
4. Click the Options button

5. Specify the shortcut

While it's not the fastest way to remove parentheses from Excel, once you install the code, you can reuse it multiple times in the workbook containing the code.

If you want to use this code in a workbook on your system, you can put it in thePersonal macro workbook. A VBA code stored in the Personal Macro Workbook can be used in any Excel workbook on your system.

Caution: Changes made by a VBA macro code cannot be undone. So make sure you have a backup copy of the data before running the code.

Now let's look at the pros and cons of using VBA to remove brackets/brackets in Excel.

So, these are four methods you can use to remove the brackets from your cells in Excel.

If you want to do this quickly once or twice, you can use the Flash Fill method or the Find & Replace method. And if you need to do it regularly, consider using the VBA method.

I hope you found this article useful.

Other Excel articles you might also like:

• How to remove cell formatting in Excel (from all, blank, specific cells)
• Filter cells with bold formatting in Excel
• How to remove dashes (-) in Excel?
• How to remove dotted lines in Excel