Parentheses: Controlling the Order of Operations Parentheses—or rounded brackets—are used in Excel to define the order in which calculations are performed.

You can remove leading, trailing, and extra spaces between characters and numbers in Excel using TRIM(), SUBSTITUTE() or Find and Replace.

You should use Excel’s auto-complete feature to avoid such typos. You also need to factor in parentheses, as they will dictate the order of operations in your formulas.

Note: Notice how Excel color-codes the formulas to the matching cells, including the opening and closing parentheses, in an effort to help you understand the syntax of each condition in the formula.