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How to extract hashtags from a text string in Excel and Google Sheets
Topic:Text manipulationHeads up: Excel and Google Sheets do this differently.
Excel
=IFERROR(FILTER(TEXTSPLIT(TRIM(A2), " "), LEFT(TEXTSPLIT(TRIM(A2), " "), 1) = "#"), "No hashtags")Google Sheets
=IFERROR(REGEXEXTRACT(A2, "(#\w+)"), "No hashtags")✓
Verified example
Computed by a real spreadsheet engine on the sample data below.
| Post Text |
| Loving this weather! #sunshine #summer |
| Just shipped a new feature #buildinpublic #saas |
| Monday mood #coffee #mondaymotivation |
| No hashtags here, just a regular post |
=IFERROR(FILTER(TEXTSPLIT(TRIM(A2), " "), LEFT(TEXTSPLIT(TRIM(A2), " "), 1) = "#"), "No hashtags")→No hashtags
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Step by step
- 1In Google Sheets, enter =IFERROR(REGEXEXTRACT(A2, "(#\w+)"), "No hashtags") in B2 to extract the first hashtag from the text in A2.
- 2To extract ALL hashtags in Sheets, use =SPLIT(REGEXREPLACE(REGEXREPLACE(A2, "#\w+", CHAR(1)), "[^" & CHAR(1) & "]+", ""), CHAR(1), FALSE, TRUE) — or wrap iteratively with ARRAYFORMULA on helper rows.
- 3In Excel 365, enter =IFERROR(FILTER(TEXTSPLIT(TRIM(A2), " "), LEFT(TEXTSPLIT(TRIM(A2), " "), 1) = "#"), "No hashtags") to split on spaces and keep only tokens beginning with #.
- 4The Excel formula TEXTSPLIT returns an array of words; LEFT(..., 1) = "#" produces a TRUE/FALSE array that FILTER uses to keep only hashtag tokens.
- 5For cleaner results, strip punctuation from the end of hashtags (e.g. trailing commas) with SUBSTITUTE or CLEAN before splitting.
Tips
- REGEXEXTRACT in Sheets returns only the first match. Use REGEXEXTRACT iteratively or a custom Apps Script function for cells containing many hashtags.
- The Excel FILTER+TEXTSPLIT approach correctly handles multiple hashtags in one cell as long as they are space-separated, and the entire spill appears horizontally.
- Hashtags in many languages include Unicode letters — the regex #\w+ matches ASCII word characters only. Use #[^\s]+ for broader Unicode support in Sheets.
Need the Google Sheets version instead? Open Sheets variant in workspace →
Working on a sheet you inherited? Run the Auditor on the whole file first — it flags every #REF!, #N/A, broken column pattern, and inconsistent formula in seconds, free, no signup.
Frequently asked
How do I count the number of hashtags in a cell?
In Sheets: =IF(REGEXMATCH(A2, "#\w+"), LEN(A2)-LEN(REGEXREPLACE(A2, "#\w+", "")), 0) — less elegant than a script, but functional. In Excel: =COUNTA(FILTER(TEXTSPLIT(TRIM(A2)," "), LEFT(TEXTSPLIT(TRIM(A2)," "),1)="#")).
Does this work on a column of posts?
Wrap the Excel formula in BYROW to apply it to A2:A10 at once. In Sheets, drag the formula down or use ARRAYFORMULA with careful construction.
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