Here’s a question from Larry:
I have a bunch of manually entered data that i need to validate and normalize it for then sending it over to IT so that they can import it to a customer database (built onMySQL) that our company uses for digital marketing. Part of my work is ensuring consistenct data format of the data to be imported into the database. Is there a formula that allows me to convert text in a Google Sheets spreadsheet to lower case?
Convert cell values to lower case in Google Sheets
Use the LOWER function to change the case of your Google Sheets spreadsheet:
=LOWER(your_cell_range_here)Practical Example
- First off, import your data into your Google Sheets spreadsheet. For this simple example we will use a list of courses that we teach.
- Then create a new column that will contain your text once converted.
- Next, use the LOWER function to write your formula as shown below.
- Hit Enter
- Next, autofill the rest of your column.
- Check for any errors and inconsistencies that might have been encountered.
- Optionally export your data to a comma separated value for further post-processing.
Troubleshooting
When normalizing real-world data we invariable encounter data format and consistency issues which might be related to specific text encodings or to special characters that do not exist in English, but do exist in other languages.
Handling encoding issues and special characters is beyond the scope of this tutorial. In case of follow up questions, kindly post a comment using the form below.