Remove asterisk from column with text only

[Anna]

I am using Excel 2003 - I have a spreadsheet which I imported from my Outlook
contacts. Most of the names came over with an "*" at the end and I need to
remove it because I am using this list to create labels.

When I go into Find & Replace, replace all removes the WHOLE name in the
cell. Is there a macro or formula I can use to remove the asterisk?

Thanks!

 

[Sean Timmons]

You can use ~* to find an actual asterisk.

So Find ~* replace with and leave blank.

Alternately, you can have a helper column that will be LEFT(A2,len(A2)-1),
copy down to bottom, then copy and paste special/values on top of yoru name
column.

First way may be a lot easier and quicker.

 

[Dave Peterson]

Just to add to Sean's response...

If you want to replace an asterisk character, use ~* in the from string.
If you want to replace a question mark, use ~? in the from string.
If you want to replace a tilde (~), use ~~ in the from string.

 

[Gord Dibben]

* is a wildcard.

Preface your search string with a Tilde

~*


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP

 

[Anna]

Thanks guys! I am going to use ~ the next. I was in a rush so I copied the
spreadsheet into Word, replaced the * with a blank. When it worked I copied
and pasted it back into Excel - too many steps but in a pinch it worked.

Take care, Anna