Audit column types
Dates stored as text, numbers with currency symbols, and IDs with leading zeros lost to formatting are frequent import blockers.
Normalize text fields
Trim spaces and fix inconsistent capitalization on names and company fields before matching or deduplication.
Handle dates in one format
Pick ISO (YYYY-MM-DD) or your locale standard and convert mixed columns consistently.
Run duplicate checks last
After normalization, duplicate detection is more accurate and removes fewer false negatives.
Ready to clean your file?
Upload to the Excel cleaner — analysis is free.