FIND

Microsoft Office Spreadsheet Functions

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FIND

See Also

Finds one text string (find_text) within another text string (within_text), and returns the number of the starting position of find_text, from the first character of within_text. You can also use SEARCH to find one text string within another, but unlike SEARCH, FIND is case sensitive and doesn't allow wildcard characters.

Syntax

FIND(find_text,within_text,start_num)

Find_text   is the text you want to find.

Within_text   is the text containing the text you want to find.

Start_num   specifies the character at which to start the search. The first character in within_text is character number 1. If you omit start_num, it is assumed to be 1.

Tip

Remarks

  • If find_text is "" (empty text), FIND matches the first character in the search string (that is, the character numbered start_num or 1).
  • Find_text cannot contain any wildcard characters.
  • If find_text does not appear in within_text, FIND returns the #VALUE! error value.
  • If start_num is not greater than zero, FIND returns the #VALUE! error value.
  • If start_num is greater than the length of within_text, FIND returns the #VALUE! error value.

Example 1

The example may be easier to understand if you copy it to a blank spreadsheet.

How?

Data
Miriam McGovern
Formula Description (Result)
=FIND("M",A2) Position of the first "M" in the string above (1)
=FIND("m",A2) Position of the first "m" in the string above (6)
=FIND("M",A2,3) Position of the first "M" in the string above, starting with the third character (8)

Example 2

The example may be easier to understand if you copy it to a blank spreadsheet.

How?

Data
Ceramic Insulators #124-TD45-87
Copper Coils #12-671-6772
Variable Resistors #116010
Formula Description (Result)
=MID(A2,1,FIND(" #",A2,1)-1) Extracts text from position 1 to the position of "#" in the first string above (Ceramic Insulators)
=MID(A3,1,FIND(" #",A3,1)-1) Extracts text from position 1 to the position of "#" in the second string above (Copper Coils)
=MID(A4,1,FIND(" #",A4,1)-1) Extracts text from position 1 to the position of "#" in the third string above (Variable Resistors)