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How to find the position of a character in Excel and Google Sheets
Topic:Text manipulationExcel & Google Sheets
=FIND("-", A2)✓
Verified example
Computed by a real spreadsheet engine on the sample data below.
| Code |
| USD-100 |
=FIND("-", A2)→4
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Step by step
- 1"-" is the character to locate.
- 2A2 is the text to search.
- 3FIND returns its position (here, 4 for "USD-100").
Tips
- FIND is case-sensitive; use SEARCH for a case-insensitive match.
- Combine with LEFT (=LEFT(A2,FIND("-",A2)-1)) to grab everything before the dash.
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Frequently asked
What if the character isn't found?
FIND returns #VALUE!. Wrap it in IFERROR to return a fallback like 0.
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