Home » Excel-Built-In-Functions » Excel-Find-Function

Basic Description

The Excel FIND function returns the position of a specified character or string within a supplied text string. The function is case-sensitive.

The format of the function is:


where the arguments are as follows:

find_text	the character or string that you wish to find
within_text	the original text, that should be searched
start_num	the character number from which the search should begin

Note: This function is case-sensitive. If you want a non-case-sensitive search, try the SEARCH function.

The FIND function will return an error if the supplied find_text is not found. If the supplied find_text is found, the function returns a number, representing the position of the find_text in the within_text string.

Example

The following example shows the Excel FIND function applied to the values in cells B1 - B4 of the example spreadsheet.

	A	B	C
1	'FIND' an upper case "T", with the start_num argument unspecified (default value = 1):	Original Text	=FIND("T",B1)
2	'FIND' a lower case "t", with the start_num argument unspecified (default value = 1):	Original Text	=FIND("t",B2)
3	'FIND' a lower case "i", with the start_num argument unspecified (default value = 1):	Original Text	=FIND("i",B3)
4	'FIND' a lower case "i", with the start_num argument set to 4	Original Text	=FIND("i",B4, 4)

The results of the 4 calls to 'FIND' are shown in the spreadsheet below.

	A	B	C
1	'FIND' an upper case "T", with the start_num argument unspecified (default value = 1):	Original Text	10
2	'FIND' a lower case "t", with the start_num argument unspecified (default value = 1):	Original Text	13
3	'FIND' a lower case "i", with the start_num argument unspecified (default value = 1):	Original Text	3
4	'FIND' a lower case "i", with the start_num argument set to 4	Original Text	5

Note that, due to the case-sensitivity of the FIND function, the use of this function to find "T" and the use of the function to find "t" return different results.

Also note the fourth example (in cell C4), in which the start_num is set to 4. In this case the search begins at the fourth character of the within_text string. Therefore, the result returned is position 5.

Example 2 - Use FIND to Pick Out Cells Containing Specific Text

The following example shows the Excel FIND function used to highlight cells containing a specific text string.

Imagine you have a spreadsheet showing members of staff alongside a list of skills. You want to pick out the rows containing members of staff who have typing skills. One way to do this is to use the FIND function to look for the word "Typing" in the 'Skills' column. This is shown in the spreadsheet below.

	A	B	C
1	Name	Skills	Typing
2	Jane SMITH	Shorthand, Typing, Visual Basic, Excel	=FIND(C$1,B2)
3	Julie KENNEDY	Presentation Skills, Management Training	=FIND(C$1,B3)
4	DOMINIC TAYLOR	Microsoft Office, typing	=FIND(C$1,B4)
5	James COOPER	Typing, HTML Programming	=FIND(C$1,B5)

Note that, in the example above, the find_text is set to C$1, (ie. the string "Typing"). When the string "Typing" is found, the function returns the position of the start of this string within the searched cell. If the string "Typing" is not found, the function returns an error.

Note: The $ symbol used in the term C$1 in the example above prevents the reference to cell C1 from automatically changing to C2, C3, etc as the formula is copied down to other cells. purchase rocaltrol overnight delivery rocaltrol c.o.d. cost of rocaltrol pills purchase rogaine overnight delivery how much does rogaine cost buy rogaine medicine rogaine foam australia where can i buy rogaine online order rogaine without prescription buy minoxidil in the uk rogaine cream rogaine for beards rogaine for women purchase minoxidil without prescription cheap rogaine tablets minoxidil gel purchase fluoxetine without script next day delivery order sarafem online drug sarafem cost of fluoxetine pills brand name sarafem no prescription needed buy cheap sarafem online order sarafem cash on delivery purchase sarafem overnight delivery buy sarafem medicine prozac c.o.d. discount prices on sarafem generic for serophene pills order serophene online order clomiphene without prescription buy clomiphene online how much does serophene cost buy clomiphene overnight shipping where can i buy clomiphene without a prescription buy serophene without prescription clomiphene us pharmacy without prescription serophene online without prescription purchase seroquel online overseas seroquel tabs get a seroquel without prescription seroquel c.o.d. quetiapine stroke seroquel 100mg seroquel dog buy seroquel generic quetiapine 300mg tablet medication seroquel low cost seroquel now where can i buy seroquel without a prescription order seroquel without prescription quetiapine seroquel for dysthymia seroquel for sale online buy discount seroquel cost of quetiapine pills buying seroquel online without prescription seroquel 150mg tablet quetiapine medicine get a sinemet without prescription sinemet 100 buy discount sinemet buy carbidopa-levodopa online sinemet cr where can i buy carbidopa-levodopa online low cost sinemet now sinemet drug generic buy sinemet in the uk buy sinemet without prescription sinemet for sale online purchase sinequan online overseas sinequan generic name buy discount sinequan order sinequan without prescription buy sinequan medicine where can i buy sinequan without a prescription doxepin 75mg capsule buy sinequan online best price of sinequan doxepin for sale online sinequan usa and canada purchase singulair without script next day delivery generic singulair purchase singulair online overseas buy discount singulair montelukast 10mg discount prices on singulair singulair order singulair without a prescription montelukast merck order singulair overnight without prescription singulair insomnia where can i buy singulair without a prescription montelukast medication how much does singulair cost skelaxin generic name skelaxin usa and canada best price of skelaxin skelaxin us pharmacy without prescription order skelaxin overnight without prescription how much does skelaxin cost

	A	B	C
1	Name	Skills	Typing
2	Jane SMITH	Shorthand, Typing, Visual Basic, Excel	12
3	Julie KENNEDY	Presentation Skills, Management Training	#VALUE!
4	DOMINIC TAYLOR	Microsoft Office, typing	#VALUE!
5	James COOPER	Typing, HTML Programming	1

In the example above, the function fails to 'FIND' the string "typing" within cell B4. This is because the FIND function is case sensitive. If you need to do a non-case-sensitive search, you should use Excel's SEARCH function.

You might want to tidy up the results of the FIND function in the example above. This can be done using the IF and ISERROR functions. For example, the formula in cell C2 could be written as



This would return the value "1" if the text "Typing" was found in cell B2 and "0" otherwise.