This tutorial details the syntax and advanced applications of Excel's FIND and SEARCH functions. Previous articles covered the basic Find and Replace dialog; this expands on using Excel to automatically locate and extract data based on specified criteria.

• Excel's SEARCH Function
• Key Differences: FIND vs. SEARCH
• Practical Formula Examples:
  • Extracting Strings Before/After a Specific Character
  • Locating the Nth Occurrence of a Character
  • Extracting N Characters Following a Character
  • Isolating Text Within Parentheses

Excel's FIND Function

The FIND function identifies the position of a character or substring within a text string.

Syntax:

FIND(find_text, within_text, [start_num])

• find_text: The character or substring to locate.
• within_text: The text string to search within (often a cell reference).
• start_num (optional): Specifies the starting character for the search (defaults to 1).

If find_text isn't found, FIND returns a #VALUE! error.

For example, =FIND("d", "find") returns 4. =FIND("a", "find") returns an error.

Key Considerations for FIND:

1. Case-sensitive: FIND is case-sensitive. Use SEARCH for case-insensitive searches.
2. No wildcards: FIND doesn't support wildcard characters.
3. First occurrence only: FIND returns the position of the first occurrence of find_text.
4. Empty string: If find_text is an empty string(""), FIND returns the position of the first character in within_text.
5. Error handling: #VALUE! is returned if find_text is not found, start_num exceeds within_text length, or start_num is 0 or negative.

Excel's SEARCH Function

SEARCH is similar to FIND, returning the position of a substring.

Syntax:

SEARCH(find_text, within_text, [start_num])

Unlike FIND, SEARCH is case-insensitive and supports wildcard characters (* and ?).

Examples:

=SEARCH("market", "supermarket") returns 6.

=SEARCH("e", "Excel") returns 1 (case-insensitive).

SEARCH also returns #VALUE! under the same error conditions as FIND.

FIND vs. SEARCH

• Case sensitivity: FIND is case-sensitive; SEARCH is not.
• Wildcards: SEARCH supports wildcards (* and ?); FIND does not.

Practical Formula Examples

FIND and SEARCH are rarely used alone; they're often combined with other functions (MID, LEFT, RIGHT).

Example 1: Extracting Strings Before/After a Character

Given a column of names (column A), extract first and last names into separate columns.

• First Name: =LEFT(A2, FIND(" ", A2)-1) or =LEFT(A2, SEARCH(" ", A2)-1)
• Last Name: =RIGHT(A2,LEN(A2)-FIND(" ",A2)) or =RIGHT(A2,LEN(A2)-SEARCH(" ",A2))

Example 2: Finding the Nth Occurrence of a Character

Find the position of the 2nd dash in a string (column A):

=FIND("-", A2, FIND("-",A2) 1)

For the 3rd occurrence:

=FIND("-",A2, FIND("-", A2, FIND("-",A2) 1) 2)

A simpler alternative using SUBSTITUTE and CHAR:

=FIND(CHAR(1),SUBSTITUTE(A2,"-",CHAR(1),3))

Example 3: Extracting N Characters After a Character

Extract the first 3 characters after the first dash:

=MID(A2, FIND("-",A2) 1, 3) or =MID(A2, SEARCH("-",A2) 1, 3)

To handle variable lengths after the dash:

=MID(A2, FIND("-",A2) 1, FIND("-", A2, FIND("-",A2) 1) - FIND("-",A2)-1)

Example 4: Extracting Text Within Parentheses

Extract text enclosed in parentheses (column A):

=MID(A2,SEARCH("(",A2) 1, SEARCH(")",A2)-SEARCH("(",A2)-1)

This tutorial provides a comprehensive guide to using FIND and SEARCH functions in Excel for advanced text manipulation. The next tutorial will cover the REPLACE function.

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FIND and SEARCH formula examples

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