Find And Replace shortcut.

[tkopari]

I have a column in a spreadsheet that contains data in the following format:

Smith (Jones)

I would like to quickly remove the " (Jones)" from each entry so only the "Smith" is left. Is there a way to do that using "Find and Replace"?


Tony

 

[Joe4]

Yes. Type in " (*" (SPACE + LEFT PAREND + ASTERISK) in the Find box and replace with nothing.

 

[tkopari]

Thanks Joe4! I tried it, though, and I get the error message "We couldn't find what you're looking for. Click Options for more ways to search"

 

[Joe4]

If you copied the information down from the web or copied from some data source external to Excel, that may not be a normal space there.
I tested it out, and the following should remove that "space" or whatever it is, along with the left parend and everything after it.
?(*

If that doesn't work, what if you try it without the space, just left parend and asterisk?

 

[Rick Rothstein]

Thanks Joe4! I tried it, though, and I get the error message "We couldn't find what you're looking for. Click Options for more ways to search"

Do what Joe4 suggested, but add this step... click the "Options>>" button and make sure the "Match entire cell contents" checkbox is not checked.

 

[tkopari]

Thanks everyone! The ? worked. I copied and pasted a list of plant Genera from a website, and there must have been something there other than just a space, like Joe4 said.