One of the first steps in X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) data analysis is the background-removal and normalization process. While the process of removing the background is relatively simple, an ability to perform the procedure accurately, reliably and consistently is critical for many of the steps that follow in data analysis. This chapter will cover a few methodologies for background removal and normalization of XANES data and will illustrate some of the problems that can arise when different methodologies and data ranges are used in the normalization process.