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FIND

Textbeginner

FIND locates the starting position of one text string inside another. It's case-sensitive (unlike SEARCH) and returns a number representing where the match starts. Returns #VALUE! if the text isn't found. Most commonly used inside other formulas like LEFT, MID, and SUBSTITUTE to dynamically determine where to cut or replace.

Syntax

Excel:=FIND(find_text, within_text, [start_num])

Google Sheets: =FIND(find_text, within_text, [start_num])

Parameters

find_textThe text to find.

within_textThe text to search within.

start_num?Position to start searching from. Default 1.

? = optional parameter

Worked Example

Find the position of the space in 'Cloudline Software'.

Row numbers
Header row	text	find_text	position
2	Cloudline Software		10

Formula

=FIND(B2, A2)

Result

FIND searches for the text in B2 within A2. In this sample, B2 is a space character and its first position inside 'Cloudline Software' in A2 is 10.

Practice Exercises

2 exercises - work through each one using the data table below

Exercise 1 of 2beginner

#FIND-001

Question

At what character position does the dash (-) appear in invoice ID 'INV-1001'?

Dataset

Vendor Spend Tracker (150 rows total)

Download CSV

Row numbers	A
Header row
2	INV-1001
3	INV-1002
4	INV-1003
5	INV-1004
6	INV-1005
7	INV-1006
8	INV-1007
9	INV-1008
10	INV-1009
11	INV-1010
12	INV-1011
13	INV-1012
14	INV-1013
15	INV-1014
16	INV-1015
17	INV-1016
18	INV-1017
19	INV-1018
20	INV-1019
21	INV-1020
22	INV-1021
23	INV-1022
24	INV-1023
25	INV-1024
26	INV-1025
27	INV-1026
28	INV-1027
29	INV-1028
30	INV-1029
31	INV-1030
32	INV-1031
33	INV-1032
34	INV-1033
35	INV-1034
36	INV-1035
37	INV-1036
38	INV-1037
39	INV-1038
40	INV-1039
41	INV-1040
42	INV-1041
43	INV-1042
44	INV-1043
45	INV-1044
46	INV-1045
47	INV-1046
48	INV-1047
49	INV-1048
50	INV-1049
51	INV-1050
52	INV-1051
53	INV-1052
54	INV-1053
55	INV-1054
56	INV-1055
57	INV-1056
58	INV-1057
59	INV-1058
60	INV-1059
61	INV-1060
62	INV-1061
63	INV-1062
64	INV-1063
65	INV-1064
66	INV-1065
67	INV-1066
68	INV-1067
69	INV-1068
70	INV-1069
71	INV-1070
72	INV-1071
73	INV-1072
74	INV-1073
75	INV-1074
76	INV-1075
77	INV-1076
78	INV-1077
79	INV-1078
80	INV-1079
81	INV-1080
82	INV-1081
83	INV-1082
84	INV-1083
85	INV-1084
86	INV-1085
87	INV-1086
88	INV-1087
89	INV-1088
90	INV-1089
91	INV-1090
92	INV-1091
93	INV-1092
94	INV-1093
95	INV-1094
96	INV-1095
97	INV-1096
98	INV-1097
99	INV-1098
100	INV-1099
101	INV-1100
102	INV-1101
103	INV-1102
104	INV-1103
105	INV-1104
106	INV-1105
107	INV-1106
108	INV-1107
109	INV-1108
110	INV-1109
111	INV-1110
112	INV-1111
113	INV-1112
114	INV-1113
115	INV-1114
116	INV-1115
117	INV-1116
118	INV-1117
119	INV-1118
120	INV-1119
121	INV-1120
122	INV-1121
123	INV-1122
124	INV-1123
125	INV-1124
126	INV-1125
127	INV-1126
128	INV-1127
129	INV-1128
130	INV-1129
131	INV-1130
132	INV-1131
133	INV-1132
134	INV-1133
135	INV-1134
136	INV-1135
137	INV-1136
138	INV-1137
139	INV-1138
140	INV-1139
141	INV-1140
142	INV-1141
143	INV-1142
144	INV-1143
145	INV-1144
146	INV-1145
147	INV-1146
148	INV-1147
149	INV-1148
150	INV-1149
151	INV-1150
152

Click a column name to sort. Use the filter icon to narrow rows by column value.

Scroll to explore the table, then sort or filter by column as needed.

Hints

Your Answer

Exercise 2 of 2intermediate

#FIND-002

Question

Use FIND to check if the vendor name 'NovaTech Solutions' contains the word 'Tech'. What position does 'Tech' start at?