FIND

Formulas / FIND
To find out where a substring is located within a string.
==FIND(find_text, within_text, [start_num])
  • find_text - the substring to find
  • within_text - the text to search in
  • start_num - [OPTIONAL] the starting search position in the text. Defaults to 1 if not specified.

Examples

  • =FIND("p","apple ")

    The FIND function returns the position of a substring within a string. In the example above, the FIND function returns the number 2, because "p" is the second letter in the string "apple":

  • =FIND("A","Apple")

    The FIND function is case-sensitive, which means it will only return the position of a substring if the substring is all in lowercase or all in uppercase. In the example above, the FIND function returns the number 1, because "A" is the first letter in the string "Apple":

  • =FIND("a","Apple")

    The FIND function is case-sensitive, so it returns a #VALUE! error if you're looking for a lower case letter but only the upper case letter is in the string, or vice versa.

  • =FIND("x","20 x 30 x 50")

    The FIND function can be used to find the position of a substring within a string of text. In the example above, the FIND function returns the number 4, because "x" is the fourth letter in the string "20 x 30 x 50":


Summary

The FIND function searches for the text specified by the find_text parameter within the within_text parameter.

  • The position of a string within a string is returned as a number by the FIND function.
  • FIND returns a #VALUE! error if the text is not found.
  • The FIND function does not support wildcards. Use SEARCH instead of FIND if you want to find substrings with wildcards.
  • The FIND function is always case-sensitive.
  • FIND may be nested in other functions such as ISNUMBER to create more complex formulas.
  • start_num is an optional argument for FIND and may be used to control where FIND should start its search for the substring.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the FIND function?
The FIND function is a Sourcetable function that returns the number of the first position of one text string within another text string.
What are the arguments of FIND?
The arguments of FIND are find_text, within_text, and start_num. The find_text and within_text arguments are required.
What is the start_num argument?
The start_num argument allows for skipping characters with FIND. If start_num is less than zero, FIND returns a #VALUE! error. If start_num is greater than the length of within_text, FIND returns a #VALUE! error.
Does FIND count single-byte and double-byte characters the same?
FIND counts both single-byte and double-byte characters as 1 for every language setting.

Related Functions

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