Cómo limpiar una base de datos en Google Sheets

How can Google Spreadsheets help you with data cleaning?

Google Spreadsheets are essential tools for anyone who works with data and needs to make sure it is clean and well organized. Not only do they allow you to identify common errors, but they also offer functionality to take corrective action, such as removing extra spaces or duplicate records, formatting numbers, detecting anomalies, and correcting inconsistencies. Here's how you can take advantage of these tools to improve the quality of your data and optimize your work.

What are the benefits of eliminating duplicates in your data?

Removing duplicates is a crucial step in data cleansing. Duplicates can distort your analysis results and make it difficult to interpret your data. Removing them ensures that every piece of data present in your sheet is unique and accurate, more accurately reflecting reality. Here's how to do it:

• Step-by-step to remove duplicates:
  1. Select the cells, rows or columns in which you want to search for duplicates.
  2. Go to the "Data" tab in the top menu.
  3. Click on "Remove duplicates".
  4. Select the columns you want to check for duplicates and confirm the operation.

How to clean a database using specific functionalities?

Google Sheets offers built-in database cleaning features that can save you time and increase the accuracy of your data:

• Clean up extra spaces: extra spaces can cause errors in calculations and searches within the document. Use the TRIM function to remove any unnecessary spaces at the beginning or end of text. Simply apply =TRIM(cell) to the desired cell for cleaner results.

What other features and resources are available?

In addition to the functionalities mentioned above, there are many other features you can use to work with data in Google Sheets:

• Number formatting: Customize number formatting to suit your specific needs, such as converting amounts to monetary formats, dates, or percentages.

• Identifying anomalies: Use charts and data validation tools to identify outliers or deal with unrealistic data.

• Correcting inconsistent data: Use search and replace functions to unify terms or correct typos in bulk.

We encourage you to explore these tools with a database of your own. In the resources of this course, you will find a link to start practicing and performing these operations. Experimentation will allow you to evaluate results and improve your skills. There is always something new to learn, so challenge yourself and innovate with these tools!