Table of Contents
The use of parentheses around text in Microsoft Excel can be a powerful tool to quickly and accurately manipulate data. Parentheses are used to create multiple formulas in a single cell, to combine text values, and to apply functions to specific sections of data. Not only can parentheses be used to perform calculations, but they can also be applied to format a cell’s contents. This article will discuss the importance of adding parentheses around text in Excel and provide examples of how to do so.
You can use the following formula to add parentheses around the text in a specific cell in Excel:
="("&A2&")"
This particular formula adds parentheses around the text in cell A2.
For example if cell A2 contains the name Andy then this formula would return (Andy) as a result.
Note: This formula simply uses the & symbol to concatenate parentheses around the existing text in cell A2.
The following example shows how to use this formula in practice.
Example: How to Add Parentheses Around Text in Excel
Suppose we have the following list of athlete names in Excel:
Suppose we would like to add parentheses around each athlete name.
We can type the following formula into cell B2 to do so:
="("&A2&")"
We can then click and drag this formula down to each remaining cell in column B:
Notice that column B now displays the text in each corresponding cell in column A with parentheses wrapped around it.
Also note that you could use a similar formula to wrap any symbols you’d like around the text.
For example, you could instead type the following formula into cell B2 to wrap brackets around the text in cell A2:
="["&A2&"]"
The following screenshot shows how to use this formula in practice:
Notice that column B now displays the text in each corresponding cell in column A with brackets wrapped around it.
In conclusion, using the formula “=”(“&A2&”)” it is possible to easily add parentheses around a specific text in a cell in Excel. This is a very useful tool when dealing with lists of data that need to be formatted in a certain way. Additionally, this same formula can be modified to wrap any symbol you’d like around the text in the cell. With this knowledge, you are now equipped to perform this task quickly and accurately in Excel.