How to remove extra spaces from text
✓ Verified in LibreOffice 25.8.7.3Strip leading, trailing, and repeated internal spaces so text is clean and comparable.
The formula
| App | Formula | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Excel | =TRIM(A2) | Removes leading/trailing spaces and collapses internal runs to one. |
| Google Sheets | =TRIM(A2) | Identical. |
| LibreOffice Calc | =TRIM(A2) | Identical. |
How it works
TRIM removes every space from the start and end, and reduces any run of spaces between words to a single space. ' hello world ' becomes 'hello world'. Combine with CLEAN() to also strip non-printing characters.
Verified, not just documented
We ran =TRIM(A2) in LibreOffice 25.8.7.3 (headless, with forced recalculation) and it returned hello world — exactly the expected result. Every formula here is confirmed by actually executing it.