Trim Cells using VBA in Excel

Question

I have what seems like a simple problem with some data in Excel. I have a lot of data with leading spaces pasted from a web table, and I would like to get rid of the initial

Answer 1

Only thing that worked for me is this function:

Sub DoTrim()
Dim cell As Range
Dim str As String
For Each cell In Selection.Cells
    If cell.HasFormula = False Then
        str = Left(cell.Value, 1) 'space
        While str = " " Or str = Chr(160)
            cell.Value = Right(cell.Value, Len(cell.Value) - 1)
            str = Left(cell.Value, 1) 'space
        Wend
        str = Right(cell.Value, 1) 'space
        While str = " " Or str = Chr(160)
            cell.Value = Left(cell.Value, Len(cell.Value) - 1)
            str = Right(cell.Value, 1) 'space
        Wend
    End If
Next cell
End Sub

Answer 2

If you have a non-printing character at the front of the string try this

Option Explicit
Sub DoTrim()
    Dim cell As Range
    Dim str As String
    Dim nAscii As Integer
    For Each cell In Selection.Cells
        If cell.HasFormula = False Then
            str = Trim(CStr(cell))
            If Len(str) > 0 Then
                nAscii = Asc(Left(str, 1))
                If nAscii < 33 Or nAscii = 160 Then
                    If Len(str) > 1 Then
                        str = Right(str, Len(str) - 1)
                    Else
                        strl = ""
                    End If
                End If
            End If
            cell=str
        End If
    Next
End Sub

Answer 3

I would try to solve this without VBA. Just select this space and use replace (change to nothing) on that worksheet you're trying to get rid off those spaces.

If you really want to use VBA I believe you could select first character

strSpace = left(range("A1").Value,1)

and use replace function in VBA the same way

Range("A1").Value = Replace(Range("A1").Value, strSpace, "")

or

for each cell in selection.cells
 cell.value = replace(cell.value, strSpace, "")
next

Answer 4

This works well for me. It uses an array so you aren't looping through each cell. Runs much faster over large worksheet sections.

Sub Trim_Cells_Array_Method()

Dim arrData() As Variant
Dim arrReturnData() As Variant
Dim rng As Excel.Range
Dim lRows As Long
Dim lCols As Long
Dim i As Long, j As Long

  lRows = Selection.Rows.count
  lCols = Selection.Columns.count

  ReDim arrData(1 To lRows, 1 To lCols)
  ReDim arrReturnData(1 To lRows, 1 To lCols)

  Set rng = Selection
  arrData = rng.value

  For j = 1 To lCols
    For i = 1 To lRows
      arrReturnData(i, j) = Trim(arrData(i, j))
    Next i
  Next j

  rng.value = arrReturnData

  Set rng = Nothing
End Sub

Answer 5

This should accomplish what you want to do. I just tested it on a sheet of mine; let me know if this doesn't work. LTrim is if you only have leading spaces; the Trim function can be used as well as it takes care of leading and trailing spaces. Replace the range of cells in the area I have as "A1:C50" and also make sure to change "Sheet1" to the name of the sheet you're working on.

Dim cell As Range, areaToTrim As Range
Set areaToTrim = Sheet1.Range("A1:C50")
For Each cell In areaToTrim
    cell.Value = LTrim(cell.Value)
Next cell

Answer 6

The infinite loop is a result of an On Error Resume Next statement somewhere higher up in your code. Get rid of it now. If your code only runs with On Error Resume Next in effect, it needs instant and complete overhaul.

And while you are at it, place an Option Explicit on top of yor module. It forces you to declare all variables, a safeguard against annoying bugs that are the result of mis-typed variable names. (You can modify the VBA editor preferences to have that option set automatically the next time, which is highly recommended.)

The immediate problem with your code is that a cell is an object, and objects cannot be trimmed. You want to trim the text of the cell, so you must do so:

cell.Text = Trim(cell.Text)