Clean Text with REGEXREPLACE

365 (2024+)REGEX

Replace everything matching a pattern in one move. REGEXREPLACE strips non-digits, collapses spaces, or reformats text far more powerfully than nested SUBSTITUTE.

Quick formula: strip everything except digits from A2:

=REGEXREPLACE(A2, "[^0-9]", "")

[^0-9] matches any non-digit; replacing it with "" leaves only the numbers — perfect for cleaning phone numbers.

Functions used (tap for the full reference guide):

REGEXREPLACE

The example

Reduce a formatted phone number to raw digits.

	A	B
1	Text	Cleaned
2	(555) 123-4567	5551234567

The formula

Replace all matches at once:

=REGEXREPLACE(A2, "[^0-9]", "") // keep digits only

How it works

One pattern replaces many things:

The pattern describes what to replace; the third argument is the replacement.
[^0-9] means “any character that is not a digit” — the caret inside brackets negates the set.
Replacing with "" deletes those characters; replace with a space or text to transform instead.
Use capture groups in the replacement ($1) to reorder — e.g. swap “Last, First” to “First Last.”

Reorder with groups: =REGEXREPLACE(A2, "(\w+), (\w+)", "$2 $1") turns “Smith, Jane” into “Jane Smith.” That kind of swap is painful with SUBSTITUTE but trivial with regex.

Try it: interactive demo

Live demo

Replace pattern matches with the replacement.

Text

Pattern

Replace

Result:

Variations

Collapse spaces

Multiple spaces → one:

=REGEXREPLACE(A2, "\s+", " ")

Swap name order

Groups in the replacement:

=REGEXREPLACE(A2, "(\w+), (\w+)", "$2 $1")

Remove letters

Keep non-letters:

=REGEXREPLACE(A2, "[A-Za-z]", "")

Pitfalls & errors

365 (2024+) only. Older Excel lacks REGEXREPLACE — nest SUBSTITUTE instead.

Global by default. REGEXREPLACE replaces all matches. Anchor or narrow the pattern if you only want some.

Replacement uses $1, $2. Reference capture groups with $1 in the replacement string, not \1.

Practice workbook

📊

Download the free Clean Text with REGEXREPLACE practice workbook

REGEXREPLACE examples (formula text + result) with collapse-spaces, name-swap, and remove-letters variants, plus 4 challenges with answers. No sign-up required.

Frequently asked questions

How do I strip all non-numeric characters in Excel?

Use =REGEXREPLACE(A2, "[^0-9]", "") to remove everything that is not a digit, leaving the raw number. Requires Excel 365 (2024+).

How do I reorder text like Last, First to First Last?

Use capture groups: =REGEXREPLACE(A2, "(\w+), (\w+)", "$2 $1") swaps the two parts.

Does REGEXREPLACE replace all matches or just the first?

All matches by default. Narrow or anchor the pattern if you want to limit it.

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Function references: REGEXREPLACE