What is CHAR function in Excel?
CHAR function is one of TEXT functions in Microsoft Excel that returns the character specified by a number. Use CHAR to translate code page numbers you might get from files on other types of computers into characters.
| Operating environment | Character set |
| Macintosh | Macintosh character set |
| Windows | ANSI
The ANSI character set was the standard set of characters used in Windows operating systems through Windows 95 and Windows NT, after which Unicode was adopted. ANSI consists of 218 characters, many of which share the same numerical codes as in the ASCII/Unicode formats. |
Syntax of CHAR function
CHAR(number)
Note: Excel Online supports only CHAR(9), CHAR(10), CHAR(13), and CHAR(32) and above.
The CHAR function syntax has the following arguments:
- Number: A number between 1 and 255 specifying which character you want. The character is from the character set used by your computer.
Example of CHAR function
Steps to follow:
1. Open a new Excel worksheet.
2. Copy data in the following table below and paste it in cell A1
Note: For formulas to show results, select them, press F2 key on your keyboard and then press Enter.
You can adjust the column widths to see all the data, if need be.
| Formula | Description | Result |
| =CHAR(65) | Displays the character represented by 65 in the computer’s character set. | A |
| =CHAR(33) | Displays the character represented by 33 in the computer’s character set. | ! |