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Remove only Alpha Characters

Hello,

i need help, i have the below code that somehow works through UDF. but what i need is a solution with formula.
that for example in Cell A1 if i have a string like this Edward E%E-(510)-797-2145 @ % then it extracts everything but the alphas and in A2 i need %-(510)-797-2145 @ %

is this possible with excel formula?

Function RemoveAlpha(cellInput) As String
           
    Set cellInput = Intersect(cellInput.Parent.UsedRange, cellInput)
    
    For i = 1 To Len(cellInput)
        Select Case Mid(cellInput, i, 1)
            Case 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0, " ", "-", "/" ,"@" ,"%"
                Charval = Mid(cellInput, i, 1)
            Case Else
                Charval = ""
        End Select
    RemoveAlpha = RemoveAlpha & Charval
    Next i
        
End Function

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ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

Patrick Matthews

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Professor J

Thanks Patrick. I had faced similar question before. frankly, I did not know that it is not possible by built in formula.

Flora Edwards

ASKER

Thanks for clarification.

als315

Dear Flora. It is possible to do it witoout UDF, but there is one problem: you can't use cycles in formula, so you should analyze and replace each character in your string. Length of formula is limited, so you are also limited in string length.
Attached is sample for strings less then 30 symbols
Remove-alpha.xlsx

Saqib Husain

Or you can try

=SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A1,"a",""),"b",""),"c",""),"d",""),"e",""),"f",""),"g",""),"h",""),"i",""),"j",""),"k",""),"l",""),"m",""),"n",""),"o",""),"p",""),"q",""),"r",""),"s",""),"t",""),"u",""),"v",""),"w",""),"x",""),"y",""),"z",""),"A",""),"B",""),"C",""),"D",""),"E",""),"F",""),"G",""),"H",""),"I",""),"J",""),"K",""),"L",""),"M",""),"N",""),"O",""),"P",""),"Q",""),"R",""),"S",""),"T",""),"U",""),"V",""),"W",""),"X",""),"Y",""),"Z","")

for any number of characters

als315

Thanks, great idea. You can even simplify it:
=SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(LOWER(A1),"a",""),"b",""),"c",""),"d",""),"e",""),"f",""),"g",""),"h",""),"i",""),"j",""),"k",""),"l",""),"m",""),"n",""),"o",""),"p",""),"q",""),"r",""),"s",""),"t",""),"u",""),"v",""),"w",""),"x",""),"y",""),"z","")

Flora Edwards

ASKER

thank you very much als315 and Saqib