Excel FIND Function
Summary
The Excel FIND function returns the position (as a number) of one text string inside another. When the text is not found, FIND returns a #VALUE error.
Purpose
Get the location of text in a string
Return value
A number representing the location of find_text.
Syntax
=FIND (find_text, within_text, [start_num])
Arguments
- find_text - The text to find.
- within_text - The text to search within.
- start_num - [optional] The starting position in the text to search. Optional, defaults to 1.
Usage notes
- The FIND function will return the location of the first instance of find_text in within_text.
- The location is returned as the number of characters from the start of within_text.
- Start_num is optional and defaults to 1.
- FIND will return #VALUE if find_text is not found in within_text .
- FIND is case-sensitive and does not support wildcards.
- Use the SEARCH function to search without case-sensitivity and/or to use wildcards.
FIND formula examples
To extract the last two words from a cell, you can use a formula built with several Excel functions, including MID, FIND, SUBSTITUTE, and LEN. In the example shown, the formula in C5 is:
=MID(B5,FIND("@",...
To check if a cell contains specific text, you can use the SEARCH function together with the ISNUMBER function. In the generic version, substring is the specific text you are looking for, and text represents text in the...
To get the position of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. instance of a specific character inside a text string, you can use the FIND and SUBSTITUTE functions.
In the example shown, the formula in E4 is:
=FIND("~",...
If want to extract the name part of an email address, you can do so with a formula that uses the LEFT and FIND functions. In the generic form above, email represents the email address you are working with.
In the...
If you have a list of things (words, substrings, etc) and want to find out which of these things appear in a cell, you can build a simple table and use a formula based on the SEARCH function.
Setup
Suppose you have a...
To convert a measurement in feet and inches to inches only (i.e. 4'5" to 53) you can use a formula based on several functions, including LEFT, FIND, MID, and SUBSTITUTE. In the example shown, the formula in D5 is:
=...
To trim text to a certain number of words, you can use a formula based on the SUBSTITUTE, FIND, and LEFT functions. In the example shown, the formula in xxx is:
=LEFT(B5,FIND("#",SUBSTITUTE(B5,"...
To find the nth occurrence of a character in a text string, you can use a formula based on the FIND and SUBSTITUTE functions. In the example shown, the formula in D5 is:
=FIND(CHAR(160),SUBSTITUTE(B5,"@",...
To test if a cell (or any text string) contains a number, you can use the FIND function together with the COUNT function. In the generic form of the formula (above), A1 represents the cell you are testing. The numbers...
To extract a word that contains specific text,you can use a formula based on several functions, including TRIM, LEFT, SUBSTITUTE, MID, MAX, and REPT. You can use this formula to extract things like email addresses, or...
If you need extract the first name from a full name, you can easily do so with the FIND and LEFT functions. In the generic form of the formula (above), name is a full name, with a space separating the first name from...
To split a text string at a certain character, you can use a combination of the LEFT, RIGHT, LEN, and FIND functions.
In the example shown, the formula in C5 is:
=LEFT(B5,FIND("_",B5)-1)
And the formula in...
If you need to extract the first word from some text you can use a formula that uses the FIND and LEFT functions. From the example, the formula looks like this:
=LEFT(B4,FIND(" ",B4)-1)
How this formula...
Note: Excel contains many built-in "presets" for highlighting values with conditional formatting, including a preset to highlight cells that begin with specific text. However, if you want more flexibility, you can use...
To use XLOOKUP to match values that contain specific text, you can use wildcards and concatenation. In the example shown, the formula in F5 is:
=XLOOKUP("*"&E5&"*",code,quantity,"no...
Related videos
In this video, we look at how to combine the FIND function with the LEFT function to extract the first name from a full name using a formula.
Some Excel formulas are complex. But all complex formulas are built from simple steps. In this video, we built a more complex formula step by step.
In this video, we look at how to use the FIND and SEARCH function to find the position of a substring in a another string.
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