1.
Text Functions
Excel has many functions to offer when it comes to manipulating text
strings.
Join Strings
To join strings, use the & operator.
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Note: to insert a space, use " "
Left
To extract the leftmost characters from a string, use the LEFT function.
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Right
To extract the rightmost characters from a string, use the RIGHT function.
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Mid
To extract a substring, starting in the middle of a string, use the MID
function.
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Note: started at position 5 (p) with length 3.
Len
To get the length of a string, use the LEN function.
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Note: space (position 8) included!
Find
To find the position of a substring in a string, use the FIND function.
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Note: string "am" found at position 3.
Substitute
To replace existing text with new text in a string, use the SUBSTITUTE
function.
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2. Separate Strings
This example teaches you how to separate strings in Excel.
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The problem we are dealing with is that we need to tell Excel where we
want to separate the string. In case of Smith, Mike the comma is at position
6 while in case of Williams, Janet the comma is at position 9.
1. To get the first name, use the formula below.
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Explanation: to find the position of the comma, use the FIND function
(position 6). To get the length of a string, use the LEN function (11
characters). =RIGHT(A2,LEN(A2)-FIND(",",A2)-1) reduces to
=RIGHT(A2,11-6-1). =RIGHT(A2,4) extracts the 4 rightmost characters and
gives the desired result (Mike).
2. To get the last name, use the following formula.
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Explanation: to find the position of the comma, use the FIND function
(position 6). =LEFT(A2,FIND(",", A2)-1) reduces to =LEFT(A2,6-1).
=LEFT(A2,5) extracts the 5 leftmost characters and gives the desired result
(Smith).
3. Select the range B2:C2 and drag it down.
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3. Number of Instances
This example describes how to count the number of instances of text
(or a number) in a cell.
1. Use the LEN functon to get the length of the string (25 characters,
including spaces).
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2. The SUBSTITUTE function replaces existing text with new text in a
string. LEN(SUBSTITUTE(A1,B1,"")) equals 13 (the length of the string
without the words dog). If we subtract this number from 25, we get the
length of the dog instances (25-13=12).
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3. Dividing this number by the length of the word dog (3), gives us the dog
instances (12/3=4).
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4. Number of Words
This example describes how to count the number of words in a cell.
1a. The TRIM function returns a string with extra spaces, starting spaces
and ending spaces removed.
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1b. To get the length of the string with normal spaces, we combine the LEN
and TRIM function.
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2a. The SUBSTITUTE function replaces existing text with new text in a text
string. We use the SUBSTITUTE function to get the string without spaces.
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2b. To get the length of the string without spaces, we combine the LEN and
SUBSTITUTE function.
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3. Now comes the simple trick. To get the number of words, we subtract the
length of the string without spaces (10) from the length of the string with
normal spaces (12) and add 1.
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5. Text to Columns
To separate the contents of one Excel cell into separate columns, you
can use the 'Convert Text to Columns Wizard'. For example, when you
want to separate a list of full names into last and first names.
1. Select the range with full names.
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2. On the Data tab, click Text to Columns.
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The following dialog box appears.
3. Choose Delimited and click Next.
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4. Clear all the check boxes under Delimiters except for the Comma and
Space check box.
5. Click Finish.
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Note: This example has commas and spaces as delimiters. You may have
other delimiters in your data. Experiment by checking and unchecking the
different check boxes. You get a live preview of how your data will be
separated.
Result:
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6. Lower/Upper Case
This example teaches you how to convert a text string to lower, upper or
proper case in Excel.
1. Use the LOWER function to convert all letters in a text string
to lowercase.
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2. Use the UPPER function to convert all letters in a text string
to uppercase.
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3. Use the PROPER function to convert a text string to proper case. That
is, the first letter in each word in uppercase, and all other letters in
lowercase.
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7. Remove Unwanted Characters
The TRIM function returns a string with extra spaces, starting spaces and
ending spaces removed. The CLEAN function removes nonprintable
characters from a string.
1. For example, cell A1 below contains the string " Excel Easy "
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Note: the TRIM function returns the string "Excel Easy".
2. For example, cell A1 below contains a nonprintable character.
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Note: the CLEAN function removes this nonprintable character. Text
imported from other applications may contain nonprintable characters.
8. Compare Text
This example shows two ways to compare text in Excel. One is case-
sensitive and one is case-insensitive.
1. Use the EXACT function (case-sensitive).
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2. Use the formula =A1=B1 (case-insensitive).
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9. Find vs Search
The FIND function and the SEARCH function are very similar to each
other. This example shows the difference.
1. To find the position of a substring in a string, use the FIND function.
FIND is case-sensitive.
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2. To find the position of a substring in a string, use the SEARCH function.
SEARCH is case-insensitive.
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Note: string "excel" found at position 11. Even though it's actually the string
"Excel"
3. The SEARCH function is more versatile. You can use wildcard
characters when you use this function.
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Note: A question mark (?) matches exactly one character. An asterisk (*)
matches a series of zero or more characters.
4. One other interesting point to mention about the FIND and the SEARCH
function is that they have a 3rd optional argument. You can use this
argument to indicate the position, counting from the left, at which you want
to start searching.
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Note: string "o" found at position 5.
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Note: string "o" found at position 7 (started searching at position 6).
10. Substitute vs Replace
This example shows the difference between the SUBSTITUTE
function and the REPLACE function.
1a. If you know the text to be replaced, use the SUBSTITUTE function.
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1b. The SUBSTITUTE function has a 4th optional argument. You can use
this argument to indicate which occurrence you want to substitute.
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