Text Functions in Excel

How to strip numeric characters from cell in Excel

To remove numeric characters from a text string, you can try this experimental formula based on the TEXTJOIN function, new in Excel 2016. Formula {=TEXTJOIN(“”,TRUE,IF(ISERR(MID(A1, ROW(INDIRECT(“1:100”)),1)+0), MID(A1,ROW(INDIRECT(“1:100″)),1),””))} Explanation In the example shown, the formula in C5 is: =TEXTJOIN(“”,TRUE,IF(ISERR(MID(B5, ROW(INDIRECT(“1:100”)),1)+0), MID(B5,ROW(INDIRECT(“1:100″)),1),””)) Note: this is an array formula and must be entered with control + shift + …

Extract middle name from full name — Manipulating NAMES in Excel

If you need to get the middle name from a full name, and you already have the first and last names in separate cells, you can use a formula that extracts the middle name using the MID and LEN functions, with help from TRIM function. Note: this is a pretty sloppy formula, but will work …

How to count number of characters of text in a cell in Excel

If you need to count the total characters in a cell, you can do so using the LEN function. Formula =LEN(a1) Explanation In the example, the formula in the active cell is: =LEN(B3) The LEN function simply counts all characters that appear in a cell. All characters are counted, including space characters. Numbers are also …

Remove first character in a cell in Excel

To remove the first character in a cell, you can use the REPLACE function. Formula =REPLACE(A1,1,N,””) Explanation In the example shown, the formula in D5 is: =REPLACE(A1,1,1,””) How this formula works This formula uses the REPLACE function to replace the first character in a cell with an empty string (“”). The arguments for REPLACE are …

How to strip non-numeric characters in Excel

To remove non-numeric characters from a text string, you can try this experimental formula based on the TEXTJOIN function, new in Excel 2016. Formula {=TEXTJOIN(“”,TRUE,IFERROR(MID(A1,ROW (INDIRECT(“1:100″)),1)+0,””))} Note: TEXTJOIN will return the numbers as text, for example “100,”500″, etc. If you want a true numeric result, add zero, or wrap the entire formula in the VALUE function. TEXTJOIN was added …

Get last name from name with comma — Manipulating NAMES in Excel

If you need extract the last name from a full name in LAST, FIRST format, you can do so with a formula that uses the LEFT and FIND functions. The formula works with names in this format, where a comma and space separate the last name from the first name. Note: this formula will only …

How to count specific words in a range in Excel

To count how many times a specific a word (or any substring) appears inside a range of cells, you can use a formula based on the SUBSTITUTE, LEN, and SUMPRODUCT functions. Formula =SUMPRODUCT((LEN(range)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(range,text,””)))/LEN(text)) Explanation In the example shown, the formula in C11 is: =SUMPRODUCT((LEN(B5:B8)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(B5:B8,C2,””)))/LEN(C2)) Note: The formula on this page counts instances of a word in a …

Remove file extension from filename in Excel

To remove a file extension from a file name, you can use a formula based on the LEFT and FIND functions. Formula =LEFT(filename,FIND(“.”,filename)-1) Note: because this formula finds the first occurrence of “.”, it will remove all file extensions when there are are more than one. Explanation In the example shown, the formula in C5 …

How to strip html from text or numbers in Excel

To strip html or other markup from values in cells, you can use the MID function. Formula =MID(text,start,LEN(text)-markup_len) Explanation In the example shown, the formula in C5 is: =MID(B5,4,LEN(B5)-7) How this formula works The MID function returns characters using a fixed starting point and ending point. In this case, the markup consists of the html …

Extract last name from full name — Manipulating NAMES in Excel

If you need extract the last name from a full name, you can do so with this rather complex formula that uses several functions. Note: In the formula below, name is a full name, with a space separating the first name from other parts of the name. Formula =RIGHT(name,LEN(name)-FIND(“*”,SUBSTITUTE(name,” “,”*”, LEN(name)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(name,” “,””))))) Important! Handling inconsistent …

How to count specific words in a cell in Excel

If you need to count how many times a specific a word (or any substring) appears inside a cell, you can use a formula that uses SUBSTITUTE and LEN. Formula =(LEN(text)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(text,word,””)))/LEN(word) Explanation In our example, we are using this formula: =(LEN(B4)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(B4,C4,””)))/LEN(C4) How this formula works B4 is the cell we’re counting words in, and C4 …

Remove last characters from right in a cell in Excel

To remove the last n characters from a text string, you can use a formula based on the LEFT and LEN functions. You can use a formula like this to strip the last 3 characters, last 5 characters of a value, starting on the left. Formula =LEFT(text,LEN(text)-n) Note: there is no reason to use the …

How to split text with delimiter in Excel

To split text at an arbitrary delimiter (comma, space, pipe, etc.) you can use a formula based on the TRIM, MID, SUBSTITUTE, REPT, and LEN functions. Formula =TRIM(MID(SUBSTITUTE(A1,delim,REPT (” “,LEN(A1))),(N-1)*LEN(A1)+1,LEN(A1))) Explanation In the example shown, the formula in C5 is: =TRIM(MID(SUBSTITUTE($B5,”|”, REPT(” “,LEN($B5))),(C$4-1)* LEN($B5)+1,LEN($B5))) Note: references to B5 and C4 are mixed references to allow the formula …

Get first name from name with comma — Manipulating NAMES in Excel

To extract the first name from a full name in “Last, First” format, you can use a formula that uses RIGHT, LEN and FIND functions. Note: this formula will only work with names in Last, First format, separated with a comma and space. Formula =RIGHT(name,LEN(name)-FIND(“, “,name)-1) Explanation From the table and formula (above), name represent full …

How to count specific characters in a range in Excel

If you need to count specific characters in a range of cells, you can do so with a formula that uses LEN and SUBSTITUTE, along with the SUMPRODUCT function. Formula =SUMPRODUCT(LEN(range)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(range,text,””))) Explanation In the example, the active cell contains this formula: =SUMPRODUCT(LEN(B3:B7)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(B3:B7,”o”,””))) How the formula works For each cell in the range, SUBSTITUTE removes all …

Get position of 2nd 3rd and more instance of character in Excel

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. Note: we use “~” in this case only because it rarely occurs in other text. You can use any character that you know won’t appear in the text. …

How to split text string at specific character in Excel

To split a text string at a certain character, you can use a combination of the LEFT, RIGHT, LEN, and FIND functions. Formula =LEFT(text,FIND(character,text)-1) Explanation In the example shown, the formula in C5 is: =LEFT(B5,FIND(“_”,B5)-1) And the formula in D5 is: =RIGHT(B5,LEN(B5)-FIND(“_”,B5)) How these formulas work The first formula uses the FIND function to locate …

Get first name from full name — Manipulating NAMES in Excel

If you need extract the first name from a full name, you can easily do so with the FIND and LEFT functions. In the formula below, name is a full name, with a space separating the first name from other parts of the name. Note: this formula does not account for titles (Ms., Mr., etc) …

How to strip protocol and trailing slash from URL in Excel

To remove the protocol (i.e. http://, ftp://, etc.) and trailing slash from a URL, you can use a formula based on the MID, FIND, and LEN functions. Formula =MID(url,FIND(“//”,url)+2,LEN(url)-FIND(“//”,url)-1-(RIGHT(url)=”/”)) Explanation In the example shown, the formula in C5 is: =MID(B4,FIND(“//”,B4)+2,LEN(B4)-FIND(“//”,B4)-1-(RIGHT(B4)=”/”)) How this formula works The core of this formula is the MID function, which extracts …

How to create email address from name in Excel

To build email addresses using first and last names, you can use a formula that concatenates values, with help from the LOWER and LEFT functions as needed. See example below: Formula =LOWER(LEFT(first)&last)&”@domain.com” Explanation In the example shown, the formula in D5 is: =LOWER(LEFT(C5)&B5)&”@”&”acme.com” How this formula works For a name like “Tim Brown”, this formula …

How to remove trailing slash from url in Excel

To remove a trailing slash from a URL or path, you can use a formula based on the LEFT and LEN functions. Formula =LEFT(url,LEN(B4)-(RIGHT(url)=”/”)) Explanation In the example shown, the formula in cell C6 is: =LEFT(B4,LEN(B4)-(RIGHT(B4)=”/”)) How this formula works At the core, this formula uses the LEFT function to return text starting from the …

How to get top level domain (TLD) in Excel

To extract the top level domain (called “TLD”) from a list of domain names or email addresses, you can use a rather complex formula that uses several functions. In the formula below, domain represents a domain or email address in normal “dot” syntax. Formula =RIGHT(domain,LEN(domain)-FIND(“*”,SUBSTITUTE(domain,”.”,”*”, LEN(domain)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(domain,”.”,””))))) Explanation In the example, the active cell contains this formula: …

How to get page from URL in Excel

To extract the page, or the part of a path after the last forward slash (/), you can use a formula based on several Excel functions: TRIM, RIGHT, SUBSTITUTE, and REPT. Formula =TRIM(RIGHT(SUBSTITUTE(url,”/”,REPT(” “,100)),100)) Explanation In the example shown, the formula in C5 is: =TRIM(RIGHT(SUBSTITUTE(B5,”/”,REPT(” “,100)),100)) How this formula works At the core, this formula …

How to extract name from email address in Excel

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 formula below, email represents the email address you are working with. Formula =LEFT(email,FIND(“@”,email)-1) Explanation In the example, we are using this formula: =LEFT(C4,FIND(“@”,C4)-1) Here’s how the formula works: …

How to extract domain name from URL in Excel

If you want to extract the domain name from a complete URL, you can do so with a formula that uses the LEFT and FIND functions. See example: In the formula below, url is the the URL you are working with. Formula =LEFT(url,FIND(“/”,url,9)) Explanation In the example, we are using this formula: =LEFT(B4,FIND(“/”,B4,9)) Here’s how …

How to extract domain from email address in Excel

Atimes a user may want to extract the domain from an email address, the RIGHT, LEN, and FIND functions can be used to achieve that. In the formula below, email represents the email address you are working with. Formula =RIGHT(email,LEN(email)-FIND(“@”,email)) Explanation In the example, we are using this formula: =RIGHT(C4,LEN(C4)-FIND(“@”,C4)) Here’s how the formula works …

How to create email address with name and domain in Excel

Atimes a user may want to build an email address from a first and last name. In that case, use a formula based on simple concatenation with help from the LEFT and LOWER functions. See illustration below: Formula =LOWER(LEFT(first)&last&”@”&domain) Explanation In the example shown, the formula in D5 is: =LOWER(LEFT(B5)&C5&”@”&$G$6) How this formula works Working …

Put names into proper case — Manipulating NAMES in Excel

If you need to clean up names that are not in a proper case, you can use a simple formula based on PROPER functions. Formula =PROPER(name) Explanation In the example the formula in C5 is: =PROPER(B5) How this formula works The PROPER function automatically reformats text so that all words are capitalized. At the same …

How to abbreviate names or words in Excel

To abbreviate text that contains capital letters, you can try this array formula based on the TEXTJOIN function, which is new in Excel 2016. You can use this approach to create initials from names, or to create acronyms. Only capital letters will survive this formula, so the source text must include capitalized words. You can …

How to count line breaks in cell in Excel worksheet

This tutorial shows how to count line breaks in cell in Excel worksheet using example below. To count total lines in a cell, you can use a formula based on the LEN, SUBSTITUTE, and CHAR functions. Formula =LEN(B5)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(B5,CHAR(10),””))+1 Explanation In the example, we are using this formula: =LEN(B5)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(B5,CHAR(10),””))+1 How the formula works First, the LEN function counts …

How to add a line break with a formula while joining text strings in Excel

To add a line break with a formula, you can use the concatenation operator (&) along with the CHAR function. Note: make sure you have text wrap enabled on cells that contain line breaks. Formula =”text”&CHAR(10)&”text” Explanation In the example shown the formula in E4 is: =B4&CHAR(10)&C4&CHAR(10)&D4 How this formula works This formula “glues together” …

Add line break based on OS in Excel

To add a line break taking into account the current OS (Mac or Windows), you can use the INFO function to test the system and then return the correct break character — CHAR(10) for Windows, CHAR(13) for Mac. Note: make sure you have text wrap enabled on cells that contain line breaks. Formula =IF(INFO(“system”)=”mac”,CHAR(13),CHAR(10)) Explanation The character …

How to Capitalize first letter in a sentence in Excel

This tutorial shows how to capitalize first letter in Excel. In Microsoft office word it is called sentence case, in Excel to capitalize the first letter in a word or string, you can use a formula based on the LEFT, MID, and LEN functions. Formula =UPPER(LEFT(A1))&MID(A1,2,LEN(A1)) Explanation In the example shown, the formula in C5 is: …

How to check if cell contains all of many things in Excel

If you want to test a cell to see if it contains all items in a list, you can do so with a formula that uses the SEARCH function, with help from the ISNUMBER, SUMPRODUCT, and COUNTA functions. Case study: Let’s say you have a list of text strings in the range B5:B8, and you want …

How to check if cell contains number in Excel

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 be checked (numbers between 0-9) are supplied as an array. Formula =COUNT(FIND({0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9},A1))>0 Explanation In …

How to check if cell contains one of many things in Excel

This tutorial shows how to check if cell contains one of many things in Excel using example below: If you want to test a cell to see if it contains one of several things, you can do so with a formula that uses the SEARCH function, with help from the ISNUMBER and SUMPRODUCT functions. Formula =SUMPRODUCT(–ISNUMBER(SEARCH(things,A1)))>0 …

How to check if cell contains some words but not others in Excel

To test a cell to see if contains certain words but not others, you can use an array formula based on the COUNT and SEARCH functions, wrapped in the AND function. Formula {=AND(COUNT(SEARCH(inc,A1))>0,COUNT(SEARCH(exc,A1))=0)} Explanation In the example shown, the formula in C5 is: {=AND(COUNT(SEARCH(inc,B5))>0,COUNT(SEARCH(exc,B5))=0)} This formula returns TRUE when B5 contains any of the words …

How to check cell contains which things in Excel

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 cells that contain text that mentions various colors, and you want to …

Clean and reformat telephone numbers using SUBSTITUTE function in Excel

One way to clean up and reformat telephone numbers is to strip out all extraneous characters, then apply Excel’s built-in telephone number format. Formula =SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE (SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A1,”(“,””), “)”,””),”-“,””),” “,””),”.”,””)+0 Note that the cell appears in the middle, with function names above and substitutions below. Not only does this make the formula easier to read, it also …

How to compare two text strings in Excel

If you need to compare two text strings in Excel to determine if they’re equal, you can use the EXACT function. Formula =EXACT(text1, text2) Explanation For example, if you want to compare A2 with B2, use: =EXACT(A2,B2) If the two strings are identical, EXACT will return TRUE. If not, EXACT will return FALSE. You can …

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