What is the SEARCH function in Excel?
The SEARCH function is one of the TEXT functions of Excel.
It returns the number of characters at which a specific character or text string is first found, reading left to right (not case-sensitive).
We can find this function in TEXT categoty of insert function Tab.
How to use SEARCH function in excel?
- Click on an empty cell (like F5 ).
2. Click on fx on the below of font word (or press shift+F3).
3. In insert function tab you will see all functions.
4. Select TEXT category.
5. Select SEARCH function
6. Then select ok.
7. In function arguments Tab you will see SEARCH function.
8. Find text is the text you want to find. You can use the ? and • wildcard characters; use —? and—*to find the ? and * characters.
9. Within text is the text in which you want to search for Find text.
10. Start num is the character number in Within text, counting from the left, at which you want to start searching. If omitted, 1 is used.
11. You will see the results in formula result section.
Examples of SEARCH function in Excel
Example 1: How to find position of a character in Word?
Find the position of “r” character in excellrow.
=SEARCH("r","excellrow",1) ---------->>>>answer is 33
Example 2: How to find position of a word in in a sentence?
Find the position of “excellrow” in “best site of excell is excellrow”.
=SEARCH("excellrow","best site of excell is excellrow",1) ---------->>>>answer is 24Example 3: How to find Position of the first double quotation mark?
Find the position of (“”) in (best “site” of excell is excellrow).
=SEARCH("""",A5,1)---------->>>>answer is 6Example 4: is the SEARCH function case-sensitive?
The SEARCH function is not case-sensitive. FIND function is case-sensitive.
Example 5: How to find position of a character in the list of Words?
Find the position of “_” character in below Name.
What is the purpose of SEARCH function?
It returns the number of the character at which a specific character or text string is first found, reading left to right (not case-sensitive).
What is the Return value of SEARCH function?
It just returns the number.
SEARCH (Find text,Within text,Start num)=numberHow many arguments does SEARCH function have?
SEARCH (Find text,Within text,Start num)
CODE function has 1 argument.
- Text is the text for which you want the code of the first character.
- Within text is the text in which you want to search for Find text.
- Start num is the character number in Within text, counting from the left, at which you want to start searching. If omitted, 1 is used
Which version of excel supports SEARCH function?
This function is available for all excel versions (2003-2019)
Errors in SEARCH function
If nothing found in text , SEARCH returns #VALUE!
=(SEARCH(A2,B2,1))---------->>>>answer is #VALUE!
=ISERROR(SEARCH(A2,B2,1))---------->>>>answer is TRUE
=ISNUMBER(SEARCH(A2,B2,1))---------->>>>answer is FALSE
Arguments stated as explicit text must be placed within double quotation marks.
Arguments stated as explicit text must be placed within double quotation marks.
=SEARCH(a,"apple",1)---------->>>>answer is #NAME?
