Are you tired of dealing with random characters and symbols in your Google Sheets? Do you want to ensure that only alphanumerics are entered in a specific column? Well, look no further! In this article, I’ll show you how to use data validation in Google Sheets to restrict the entry of anything other than alphanumerics. Let’s dive in!
Data Validation: Your Secret Weapon
Data validation is a powerful tool in Google Sheets that allows you to control the type of data that can be entered in a cell or range of cells. By utilizing this feature, we can restrict the entry to alphanumerics only. It’s perfect for cases like item codes, employee codes, or any other code-related data.
Before we begin, let’s clarify what we mean by alphanumerics. Alphanumerics are a combination of letters and numbers. In Google Sheets, these combinations can consist of either uppercase (A-Z) or lowercase (a-z) letters, along with numbers (0-9).
Restricting Entry to Alphanumerics
To only allow the entry of alphanumerics in Google Sheets, follow these simple steps:
- Select the range of cells where you want to enforce the restriction. For example, A1:A10.
- Go to the Data menu and choose Data validation.
- Select the Custom formula is criteria and enter the following formula:
=regexmatch(A1,"^[a-zA-Z0-9]*$")
With this formula, any entry in the selected range that contains characters other than alphanumerics will be rejected. You’ll find that only strings consisting of alphabets and/or numbers are allowed in the specified column.
Fine-Tuning the Validation
Now that you’ve mastered the basics of restricting entry to alphanumerics, let’s explore some variations to better suit your needs.
Case Insensitive Alphanumerics
If you want to allow both uppercase and lowercase letters, simply modify the formula as follows:
=regexmatch(A1,"^[A-Za-z0-9]*$")Case Sensitive Alphabets
To restrict the entry to either uppercase or lowercase letters only, use the following formulas:
For lowercase letters only:
=regexmatch(A1,"^[a-z]*$")For uppercase letters only:
=regexmatch(A1,"^[A-Z]*$")Allowing Special Characters
If you want to include special characters along with alphanumerics, you can easily modify the formula. Simply remove the last formula from the data validation rule.
For alphanumerics with special characters:
=and(regexmatch(regexextract(A1,"[A-Za-z]+"),"^[a-zA-Z]*$"),regexmatch(regexextract(A1,"[0-9]+"),"^[0-9]*$"))Case Sensitive Alphanumerics with Special Characters
To allow case-sensitive alphanumerics with special characters, remove the third formula from the previous rules.
For uppercase letters with special characters:
=and(regexmatch(regexextract(A1,"[A-Z]+"),"^[A-Z]*$"),regexmatch(regexextract(A1,"[0-9]+"),"^[0-9]*$"))For lowercase letters with special characters:
=and(regexmatch(regexextract(A1,"[a-z]+"),"^[a-z]*$"),regexmatch(regexextract(A1,"[0-9]+"),"^[0-9]*$"))And there you have it! With these formulas, you can create custom data validation rules in Google Sheets to allow only the entry of alphanumerics, either case-sensitive or case-insensitive, with or without special characters.
Remember, data validation is your secret weapon for maintaining clean and organized data in Google Sheets. Put these tips into action and enjoy the benefits of having a well-structured spreadsheet!
For more informative articles on Google Sheets and other exciting topics, visit Crawlan.com. Happy sheeting!
