How to compare two cells and ignore leading and trailing spaces by using the TRIM worksheet function (142588)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Excel for Windows 5.0
  • Microsoft Excel for Windows 5.0c
  • Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh 5.0
  • Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh 5.0a
  • Microsoft Excel for Windows NT 5.0
  • Microsoft Excel for Windows 95
  • Microsoft Excel for Windows 95 7.0a
  • Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows
  • Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition
  • Microsoft Excel 2000
  • Microsoft Excel 2002
  • Microsoft Office Excel 2003
This article was previously published under Q142588

SUMMARY

You can use the TRIM worksheet function in Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications to compare the contents of two cells so that leading spaces and trailing spaces are ignored.

MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied. This includes, but is not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language that is being demonstrated and with the tools that are used to create and to debug procedures. Microsoft support engineers can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific requirements. The following macro compares the contents of the active cell with the contents of the cell to the right. If the contents of the cells are the same, except for leading and trailing spaces, the word "Same" appears in a message box. Otherwise, the word "Different" appears. 
   Sub CompareCells()
       If Application.Trim(ActiveCell) = _
           Application.Trim(ActiveCell.Offset(0, 1)) Then
           MsgBox "Same"
       Else
           MsgBox "Different"
       End If
   End Sub
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:9/13/2006
Keywords:kbcode kbhowto kbProgramming KB142588 kbAudDeveloper
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