Excel find numbers in cell

To find something, press Ctrl+F, or go to Home > Find & Select > Find. In the Find what: box, type the text or numbers you want to find. Click Find Next to run your search.

Contents

  • 1 Why can’t I find numbers in Excel?
  • 2 How do I get numbers from a cell in Excel?
  • 3 How do you pull only numbers from a cell?
  • 4 How do you find a number in a string?
  • 5 How do you search in numbers?
  • 6 How do I find the 4 digit number in Excel?
  • 7 Is number formula excel?
  • 8 What does this regex do?
  • 9 Can I convert a char to an int?
  • 10 How do I use Isdigit?
  • 11 How do I get 5 digit numbers in Excel?
  • 12 How do I extract 5 digit numbers from a cell in Excel?
  • 13 How do I sort by last 3 digits in Excel?
  • 14 What is number format in Excel?
  • 15 How do I convert to numbers in Excel?
  • 16 What does S * mean in regex?
  • 17 How do you find the regex of a language?
  • 18 Why should we use regex?
  • 19 How do I convert a char to a string?
  • 20 What does char Cannot be Dereferenced mean?

Why can’t I find numbers in Excel?

Ensure that Look In is set to Values and that Match Entire Cell Contents is not checked. Instead of clicking Find, click Find All. Excel adds a new section to the dialog, with a list of all the cells that contain ###. While the focus is still on the dialog, click Ctrl+A.

How do I get numbers from a cell in Excel?

Use the ROW function to number rows

  1. In the first cell of the range that you want to number, type =ROW(A1). The ROW function returns the number of the row that you reference. For example, =ROW(A1) returns the number 1.
  2. Drag the fill handle. across the range that you want to fill.

How do you pull only numbers from a cell?

Select all cells with the source strings. On the Extract tool’s pane, select the Extract numbers radio button. Depending on whether you want the results to be formulas or values, select the Insert as formula box or leave it unselected (default).

How do you find a number in a string?

To find whether a given string contains a number, convert it to a character array and find whether each character in the array is a digit using the isDigit() method of the Character class.

How do you search in numbers?

Click View in the toolbar, then choose Show Find & Replace. In the search field, enter the word or phrase you want to find. Matches are highlighted as you enter text. , then choose Whole Words or Match Case (or both).

How do I find the 4 digit number in Excel?

Select a blank cell and type this formula =TEXT(ROW(A1)-1,“0000“) into it, and press Enter key, then drag the autofill handle down until all the 4 digits combinations are listing.

Is number formula excel?

The formula for the ISNUMBER function is “=ISNUMBER (value).” It is a worksheet (WS) function in Excel. It is a Boolean function of Excel which gives the output as “true” or “false.” The ISNUMBER function along with the Excel SEARCH function, checks if a cell contains a specific text among the content of the cell.

What does this regex do?

Short for regular expression, a regex is a string of text that allows you to create patterns that help match, locate, and manage text. Perl is a great example of a programming language that utilizes regular expressions.

Can I convert a char to an int?

We can also use the getNumericValue() method of the Character class to convert the char type variable into int type. Here, as we can see the getNumericValue() method returns the numeric value of the character. The character ‘5’ is converted into an integer 5 and the character ‘9’ is converted into an integer 9 .

How do I use Isdigit?

The isdigit(c) is a function in C which can be used to check if the passed character is a digit or not. It returns a non-zero value if it’s a digit else it returns 0. For example, it returns a non-zero value for ‘0’ to ‘9’ and zero for others. The isdigit() is declared inside ctype.

How do I get 5 digit numbers in Excel?

Steps

  1. Select the cell or range of cells that you want to format.
  2. Press Ctrl+1 to load the Format Cells dialog.
  3. Select the Number tab, then in the Category list, click Custom and then, in the Type box, type the number format, such as 000-00-0000 for a social security number code, or 00000 for a five-digit postal code.

From the Excel file hit Alt + F11 , then go to Tools => Reference and select “Microsoft VBScript Regular Expression 5.5”. which take the value of cell A1 and extract the 5 digits numer, thn the result is saved into cell A2.

How do I sort by last 3 digits in Excel?

Sort by last character or number with Right Function

  1. Select a blank cell besides the column, says Cell B2, enter the formula of =RIGHT(A2,1), and then drag the cells’s Fill Handle down to the cells as you need.
  2. Keep selecting these formula cells, and click Data > Sort A to Z or Sort Z to A.
  3. Now data has been sorted.

What is number format in Excel?

You can use number formats to change the appearance of numbers, including dates and times, without changing the actual number. The number format does not affect the cell value that Excel uses to perform calculations. The actual value is displayed in the formula bar. Excel provides several built-in number formats.

How do I convert to numbers in Excel?

Convert Text to Numbers Using ‘Convert to Number’ Option

  1. Select all the cells that you want to convert from text to numbers.
  2. Click on the yellow diamond shape icon that appears at the top right. From the menu that appears, select ‘Convert to Number’ option.

What does S * mean in regex?

s*,s* It says zero or more occurrence of whitespace characters, followed by a comma and then followed by zero or more occurrence of whitespace characters. These are called short hand expressions. You can find similar regex in this site: http://www.regular-expressions.info/shorthand.html.

How do you find the regex of a language?

Regular Expressions

  1. ɸ is a regular expression for regular language ɸ.
  2. ɛ is a regular expression for regular language {ɛ}.
  3. If a ∈ Σ (Σ represents the input alphabet), a is regular expression with language {a}.
  4. If a and b are regular expression, a + b is also a regular expression with language {a,b}.

Why should we use regex?

Regular Expressions, also known as Regex, come in handy in a multitude of text processing scenarios. Regex defines a search pattern using symbols and allows you to find matches within strings. Most text editors also allow you to use Regex in Find and Replace matches in your code.

How do I convert a char to a string?

Java char to String Example: Character. toString() method

  1. public class CharToStringExample2{
  2. public static void main(String args[]){
  3. char c=’M’;
  4. String s=Character.toString(c);
  5. System.out.println(“String is: “+s);
  6. }}

What does char Cannot be Dereferenced mean?

4. 25. The type char is a primitive — not an object — so it cannot be dereferenced. Dereferencing is the process of accessing the value referred to by a reference. Since a char is already a value (not a reference), it can not be dereferenced.

Содержание

  1. Use Excel built-in functions to find data in a table or a range of cells
  2. Summary
  3. Create the Sample Worksheet
  4. Term Definitions
  5. Functions
  6. LOOKUP()
  7. VLOOKUP()
  8. INDEX() and MATCH()
  9. OFFSET() and MATCH()
  10. Find or replace text and numbers on a worksheet
  11. Replace
  12. Extract only the numbers of a cell in Excel
  13. Understand the logic applied
  14. Step 1: Extract each character from the cell
  15. Step 2: Test if each character is a number or not
  16. Step 3: Isolate the numbers
  17. Step 4: Group the numbers together
  18. Other solution

Use Excel built-in functions to find data in a table or a range of cells

Summary

This step-by-step article describes how to find data in a table (or range of cells) by using various built-in functions in Microsoft Excel. You can use different formulas to get the same result.

Create the Sample Worksheet

This article uses a sample worksheet to illustrate Excel built-in functions. Consider the example of referencing a name from column A and returning the age of that person from column C. To create this worksheet, enter the following data into a blank Excel worksheet.

You will type the value that you want to find into cell E2. You can type the formula in any blank cell in the same worksheet.

Term Definitions

This article uses the following terms to describe the Excel built-in functions:

The whole lookup table

The value to be found in the first column of Table_Array.

Lookup_Array
-or-
Lookup_Vector

The range of cells that contains possible lookup values.

The column number in Table_Array the matching value should be returned for.

3 (third column in Table_Array)

Result_Array
-or-
Result_Vector

A range that contains only one row or column. It must be the same size as Lookup_Array or Lookup_Vector.

A logical value (TRUE or FALSE). If TRUE or omitted, an approximate match is returned. If FALSE, it will look for an exact match.

This is the reference from which you want to base the offset. Top_Cell must refer to a cell or range of adjacent cells. Otherwise, OFFSET returns the #VALUE! error value.

This is the number of columns, to the left or right, that you want the upper-left cell of the result to refer to. For example, «5» as the Offset_Col argument specifies that the upper-left cell in the reference is five columns to the right of reference. Offset_Col can be positive (which means to the right of the starting reference) or negative (which means to the left of the starting reference).

Functions

LOOKUP()

The LOOKUP function finds a value in a single row or column and matches it with a value in the same position in a different row or column.

The following is an example of LOOKUP formula syntax:

The following formula finds Mary’s age in the sample worksheet:

The formula uses the value «Mary» in cell E2 and finds «Mary» in the lookup vector (column A). The formula then matches the value in the same row in the result vector (column C). Because «Mary» is in row 4, LOOKUP returns the value from row 4 in column C (22).

NOTE: The LOOKUP function requires that the table be sorted.

For more information about the LOOKUP function, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

VLOOKUP()

The VLOOKUP or Vertical Lookup function is used when data is listed in columns. This function searches for a value in the left-most column and matches it with data in a specified column in the same row. You can use VLOOKUP to find data in a sorted or unsorted table. The following example uses a table with unsorted data.

The following is an example of VLOOKUP formula syntax:

The following formula finds Mary’s age in the sample worksheet:

The formula uses the value «Mary» in cell E2 and finds «Mary» in the left-most column (column A). The formula then matches the value in the same row in Column_Index. This example uses «3» as the Column_Index (column C). Because «Mary» is in row 4, VLOOKUP returns the value from row 4 in column C (22).

For more information about the VLOOKUP function, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

INDEX() and MATCH()

You can use the INDEX and MATCH functions together to get the same results as using LOOKUP or VLOOKUP.

The following is an example of the syntax that combines INDEX and MATCH to produce the same results as LOOKUP and VLOOKUP in the previous examples:

The following formula finds Mary’s age in the sample worksheet:

The formula uses the value «Mary» in cell E2 and finds «Mary» in column A. It then matches the value in the same row in column C. Because «Mary» is in row 4, the formula returns the value from row 4 in column C (22).

NOTE: If none of the cells in Lookup_Array match Lookup_Value («Mary»), this formula will return #N/A.
For more information about the INDEX function, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

OFFSET() and MATCH()

You can use the OFFSET and MATCH functions together to produce the same results as the functions in the previous example.

The following is an example of syntax that combines OFFSET and MATCH to produce the same results as LOOKUP and VLOOKUP:

This formula finds Mary’s age in the sample worksheet:

The formula uses the value «Mary» in cell E2 and finds «Mary» in column A. The formula then matches the value in the same row but two columns to the right (column C). Because «Mary» is in column A, the formula returns the value in row 4 in column C (22).

For more information about the OFFSET function, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Источник

Find or replace text and numbers on a worksheet

Use the Find and Replace features in Excel to search for something in your workbook, such as a particular number or text string. You can either locate the search item for reference, or you can replace it with something else. You can include wildcard characters such as question marks, tildes, and asterisks, or numbers in your search terms. You can search by rows and columns, search within comments or values, and search within worksheets or entire workbooks.

Tip: You can also use formulas to replace text. Check out the SUBSTITUTE function or REPLACE, REPLACEB functions to learn more.

To find something, press Ctrl+F, or go to Home > Editing > Find & Select > Find.

Note: In the following example, we’ve clicked the Options >> button to show the entire Find dialog. By default, it will display with Options hidden.

In the Find what: box, type the text or numbers you want to find, or click the arrow in the Find what: box, and then select a recent search item from the list.

Tips: You can use wildcard characters — question mark ( ?), asterisk ( *), tilde (

) — in your search criteria.

Use the question mark (?) to find any single character — for example, s?t finds «sat» and «set».

Use the asterisk (*) to find any number of characters — for example, s*d finds «sad» and «started».

) followed by ?, *, or

to find question marks, asterisks, or other tilde characters — for example, fy91

Click Find All or Find Next to run your search.

Tip: When you click Find All, every occurrence of the criteria that you are searching for will be listed, and clicking a specific occurrence in the list will select its cell. You can sort the results of a Find All search by clicking a column heading.

Click Options>> to further define your search if needed:

Within: To search for data in a worksheet or in an entire workbook, select Sheet or Workbook.

Search: You can choose to search either By Rows (default), or By Columns.

Look in: To search for data with specific details, in the box, click Formulas, Values, Notes, or Comments.

Note: Formulas, Values, Notes and Comments are only available on the Find tab; only Formulas are available on the Replace tab.

Match case — Check this if you want to search for case-sensitive data.

Match entire cell contents — Check this if you want to search for cells that contain just the characters that you typed in the Find what: box.

If you want to search for text or numbers with specific formatting, click Format, and then make your selections in the Find Format dialog box.

Tip: If you want to find cells that just match a specific format, you can delete any criteria in the Find what box, and then select a specific cell format as an example. Click the arrow next to Format, click Choose Format From Cell, and then click the cell that has the formatting that you want to search for.

Replace

To replace text or numbers, press Ctrl+H, or go to Home > Editing > Find & Select > Replace.

Note: In the following example, we’ve clicked the Options >> button to show the entire Find dialog. By default, it will display with Options hidden.

In the Find what: box, type the text or numbers you want to find, or click the arrow in the Find what: box, and then select a recent search item from the list.

Tips: You can use wildcard characters — question mark ( ?), asterisk ( *), tilde (

) — in your search criteria.

Use the question mark (?) to find any single character — for example, s?t finds «sat» and «set».

Use the asterisk (*) to find any number of characters — for example, s*d finds «sad» and «started».

) followed by ?, *, or

to find question marks, asterisks, or other tilde characters — for example, fy91

In the Replace with: box, enter the text or numbers you want to use to replace the search text.

Click Replace All or Replace.

Tip: When you click Replace All, every occurrence of the criteria that you are searching for will be replaced, while Replace will update one occurrence at a time.

Click Options>> to further define your search if needed:

Within: To search for data in a worksheet or in an entire workbook, select Sheet or Workbook.

Search: You can choose to search either By Rows (default), or By Columns.

Look in: To search for data with specific details, in the box, click Formulas, Values, Notes, or Comments.

Note: Formulas, Values, Notes and Comments are only available on the Find tab; only Formulas are available on the Replace tab.

Match case — Check this if you want to search for case-sensitive data.

Match entire cell contents — Check this if you want to search for cells that contain just the characters that you typed in the Find what: box.

If you want to search for text or numbers with specific formatting, click Format, and then make your selections in the Find Format dialog box.

Tip: If you want to find cells that just match a specific format, you can delete any criteria in the Find what box, and then select a specific cell format as an example. Click the arrow next to Format, click Choose Format From Cell, and then click the cell that has the formatting that you want to search for.

There are two distinct methods for finding or replacing text or numbers on the Mac. The first is to use the Find & Replace dialog. The second is to use the Search bar in the ribbon.

Источник

This article will explain you how to extract the numbers from a cell containing numbers and letters.

To do that, we will use the new functions of Excel 365 ; FILTER and SEQUENCE

Understand the logic applied

To be able to extract the numbers and letters from the same cell, we have no choice ; extract each single character into the cell.

  1. This task is now possible with the new SEQUENCE function and the MID function .
  2. Next, we will perform a test to find out if each one of these characters is a number or not.
  3. Finally, when the test is true. So we just keep the numbers.

The SEQUENCE function generates a series of number between 2 values. For instance to create a series of number between 1 and 5 in column, you will write

The trick here, is to use the SEQUENCE function to split each character of the cells with this formula with the MID function. Also, the LEN function will return the exact number of characters in each cells.

Step 2: Test if each character is a number or not

Then we need to perform a test on each one of these characters to find out if it’s a number or not.

So of course here, using the ISNUMBERfunction seems logical. However, at this stage, each of the cells contains text 😕🤨

We can easily correct this with the function VALUE. VALUE will automatically convert a character to a number if needed.

To highlight the cells when the result is true, I have used the following conditional formatting rule

Step 3: Isolate the numbers

Now, to group only the numbers (when the test is TRUE), we use the FILTER function.

The first argument of the FILTER function is the first formula we have build on step 1

The second argument is the test build on the step 2

Step 4: Group the numbers together

This is the last step 😀 We just have to group the previous result with the TEXTJOIN function.

Other solution

Rick Rothsein, another Microsoft Excel MVP, has another approach to solve this problem.

The formula he proposes is this one

He reused the technique to combine MID, SEQUENCE and LEN but instead of using the FILTER function, he just do a calculation with 0. So, when it’s letter + 0, it’s an error. When it’s 0 + number, the formula returns a number. This is why he used IFERROR to keep only the numbers (clever 😉)

Thanks a lot Rick for sharing your formula 👏👏👏

Источник

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Use the Find and Replace features in Excel to search for something in your workbook, such as a particular number or text string. You can either locate the search item for reference, or you can replace it with something else. You can include wildcard characters such as question marks, tildes, and asterisks, or numbers in your search terms. You can search by rows and columns, search within comments or values, and search within worksheets or entire workbooks.

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Find

To find something, press Ctrl+F, or go to Home > Editing > Find & Select > Find.

Note: In the following example, we’ve clicked the Options >> button to show the entire Find dialog. By default, it will display with Options hidden.

Press Ctrl+F to launch the Find dialog

  1. In the Find what: box, type the text or numbers you want to find, or click the arrow in the Find what: box, and then select a recent search item from the list.

    Tips: You can use wildcard characters — question mark (?), asterisk (*), tilde (~) — in your search criteria.

    • Use the question mark (?) to find any single character — for example, s?t finds «sat» and «set».

    • Use the asterisk (*) to find any number of characters — for example, s*d finds «sad» and «started».

    • Use the tilde (~) followed by ?, *, or ~ to find question marks, asterisks, or other tilde characters  — for example, fy91~? finds «fy91?».

  2. Click Find All or Find Next to run your search.

    Tip: When you click Find All, every occurrence of the criteria that you are searching for will be listed, and clicking a specific occurrence in the list will select its cell. You can sort the results of a Find All search by clicking a column heading.

  3. Click Options>> to further define your search if needed:

    • Within: To search for data in a worksheet or in an entire workbook, select Sheet or Workbook.

    • Search: You can choose to search either By Rows (default), or By Columns.

    • Look in: To search for data with specific details, in the box, click Formulas, Values, Notes, or Comments.

      Note:   Formulas, Values, Notes and Comments are only available on the Find tab; only Formulas are available on the Replace tab.

    • Match case — Check this if you want to search for case-sensitive data.

    • Match entire cell contents — Check this if you want to search for cells that contain just the characters that you typed in the Find what: box.

  4. If you want to search for text or numbers with specific formatting, click Format, and then make your selections in the Find Format dialog box.

    Tip: If you want to find cells that just match a specific format, you can delete any criteria in the Find what box, and then select a specific cell format as an example. Click the arrow next to Format, click Choose Format From Cell, and then click the cell that has the formatting that you want to search for.

Replace

To replace text or numbers, press Ctrl+H, or go to Home > Editing > Find & Select > Replace.

Note: In the following example, we’ve clicked the Options >> button to show the entire Find dialog. By default, it will display with Options hidden.

Press Ctrl+H to launch the Replace dialog.

  1. In the Find what: box, type the text or numbers you want to find, or click the arrow in the Find what: box, and then select a recent search item from the list.

    Tips: You can use wildcard characters — question mark (?), asterisk (*), tilde (~) — in your search criteria.

    • Use the question mark (?) to find any single character — for example, s?t finds «sat» and «set».

    • Use the asterisk (*) to find any number of characters — for example, s*d finds «sad» and «started».

    • Use the tilde (~) followed by ?, *, or ~ to find question marks, asterisks, or other tilde characters  — for example, fy91~? finds «fy91?».

  2. In the Replace with: box, enter the text or numbers you want to use to replace the search text.

  3. Click Replace All or Replace.

    Tip: When you click Replace All, every occurrence of the criteria that you are searching for will be replaced, while Replace will update one occurrence at a time.

  4. Click Options>> to further define your search if needed:

    • Within: To search for data in a worksheet or in an entire workbook, select Sheet or Workbook.

    • Search: You can choose to search either By Rows (default), or By Columns.

    • Look in: To search for data with specific details, in the box, click Formulas, Values, Notes, or Comments.

      Note:   Formulas, Values, Notes and Comments are only available on the Find tab; only Formulas are available on the Replace tab.

    • Match case — Check this if you want to search for case-sensitive data.

    • Match entire cell contents — Check this if you want to search for cells that contain just the characters that you typed in the Find what: box.

  5. If you want to search for text or numbers with specific formatting, click Format, and then make your selections in the Find Format dialog box.

    Tip: If you want to find cells that just match a specific format, you can delete any criteria in the Find what box, and then select a specific cell format as an example. Click the arrow next to Format, click Choose Format From Cell, and then click the cell that has the formatting that you want to search for.

There are two distinct methods for finding or replacing text or numbers on the Mac. The first is to use the Find & Replace dialog. The second is to use the Search bar in the ribbon.

Find & Replace dialog

Search bar and options

Find window

  1. Press Ctrl+F or go to Home > Find & Select > Find.

  2. In Find what: type the text or numbers you want to find.

  3. Select Find Next to run your search.

  4. You can further define your search:

    • Within: To search for data in a worksheet or in an entire workbook, select Sheet or Workbook.

    • Search: You can choose to search either By Rows (default), or By Columns.

    • Look in: To search for data with specific details, in the box, click Formulas, Values, Notes, or Comments.

    • Match case — Check this if you want to search for case-sensitive data.

    • Match entire cell contents — Check this if you want to search for cells that contain just the characters that you typed in the Find what: box.

Tips: You can use wildcard characters — question mark (?), asterisk (*), tilde (~) — in your search criteria.

  • Use the question mark (?) to find any single character — for example, s?t finds «sat» and «set».

  • Use the asterisk (*) to find any number of characters — for example, s*d finds «sad» and «started».

  • Use the tilde (~) followed by ?, *, or ~ to find question marks, asterisks, or other tilde characters  — for example, fy91~? finds «fy91?».

Find Options

  1. Press Ctrl+F or go to Home > Find & Select > Find.

  2. In Find what: type the text or numbers you want to find.

  3. Select Find All to run your search for all occurrences.

    Find all drop display

    Note:  The dialog box expands to show a list of all the cells that contain the search term, and the total number of cells in which it appears.

  4. Select any item in the list to highlight the corresponding cell in your worksheet.
     

    Note: You can edit the contents of the highlighted cell.

  1. Press Ctrl+H or go to Home > Find & Select > Replace.

  2. In Find what, type the text or numbers you want to find.

  3. You can further define your search:

    • Within: To search for data in a worksheet or in an entire workbook, select Sheet or Workbook.

    • Search: You can choose to search either By Rows (default), or By Columns.

    • Match case — Check this if you want to search for case-sensitive data.

    • Match entire cell contents — Check this if you want to search for cells that contain just the characters that you typed in the Find what: box.
       

      Tips: You can use wildcard characters — question mark (?), asterisk (*), tilde (~) — in your search criteria.

      • Use the question mark (?) to find any single character — for example, s?t finds «sat» and «set».

      • Use the asterisk (*) to find any number of characters — for example, s*d finds «sad» and «started».

      • Use the tilde (~) followed by ?, *, or ~ to find question marks, asterisks, or other tilde characters — for example, fy91~? finds «fy91?».

  4. In the Replace with box, enter the text or numbers you want to use to replace the search text.

  5. Select Replace or Replace All.

    Tips: 

    • When you select Replace All, every occurrence of the criteria that you are searching for is replaced.

    • When you select Replace, you can replace one instance at a time by selecting Next to highlight the next instance.

  1. Select any cell to search the entire sheet or select a specific range of cells to search.

  2. Press Command + F or select the magnifying glass to expand the Search bar and type the text or number you want to find in the search field.

    Tips: You can use wildcard characters — question mark (?), asterisk (*), tilde (~) — in your search criteria.

    • Use the question mark (?) to find any single character — for example, s?t finds «sat» and «set».

    • Use the asterisk (*) to find any number of characters — for example, s*d finds «sad» and «started».

    • Use the tilde (~) followed by ?, *, or ~ to find question marks, asterisks, or other tilde characters — for example, fy91~? finds «fy91?».

  3. Press return.

    Notes: 

    • To find the next instance of the item you are searching for, press return again or use the Find dialog box and select Find Next.

    • To specify additional search options, select the magnifying glass and select Search in Sheet or Search in Workbook. You can also select the Advanced option, which launches the Find dialog.

    Tip: You can cancel a search in progress by pressing ESC.

Find

To find something, press Ctrl+F, or go to Home > Editing > Find & Select > Find.

Note: In the following example, we’ve clicked > Search Options to show the entire Find dialog. By default, it will display with Search Options hidden.

Find text or numbers in a workbook or worksheet by pressing Ctrl+F

  1. In the Find what: box, type the text or numbers you want to find.

    Tips: You can use wildcard characters — question mark (?), asterisk (*), tilde (~) — in your search criteria.

    • Use the question mark (?) to find any single character — for example, s?t finds «sat» and «set».

    • Use the asterisk (*) to find any number of characters — for example, s*d finds «sad» and «started».

    • Use the tilde (~) followed by ?, *, or ~ to find question marks, asterisks, or other tilde characters  — for example, fy91~? finds «fy91?».

  2. Click Find Next or Find All to run your search.

    Tip: When you click Find All, every occurrence of the criteria that you are searching for will be listed, and clicking a specific occurrence in the list will select its cell. You can sort the results of a Find All search by clicking a column heading.

  3. Click > Search Options to further define your search if needed:

    • Within: To search for data within a certain selection, choose Selection. To search for data in a worksheet or in an entire workbook, select Sheet or Workbook.

    • Direction: You can choose to search either Down (default), or Up.

    • Match case — Check this if you want to search for case-sensitive data.

    • Match entire cell contents — Check this if you want to search for cells that contain just the characters that you typed in the Find what box.

Replace

To replace text or numbers, press Ctrl+H, or go to Home > Editing > Find & Select > Replace.

Note: In the following example, we’ve clicked > Search Options to show the entire Find dialog. By default, it will display with Search Options hidden.

Replace text or numbers in a workbook or worksheet by pressing Ctrl+H

  1. In the Find what: box, type the text or numbers you want to find.

    Tips: You can use wildcard characters — question mark (?), asterisk (*), tilde (~) — in your search criteria.

    • Use the question mark (?) to find any single character — for example, s?t finds «sat» and «set».

    • Use the asterisk (*) to find any number of characters — for example, s*d finds «sad» and «started».

    • Use the tilde (~) followed by ?, *, or ~ to find question marks, asterisks, or other tilde characters  — for example, fy91~? finds «fy91?».

  2. In the Replace with: box, enter the text or numbers you want to use to replace the search text.

  3. Click Replace or Replace All.

    Tip: When you click Replace All, every occurrence of the criteria that you are searching for will be replaced, while Replace will update one occurrence at a time.

  4. Click > Search Options to further define your search if needed:

    • Within: To search for data within a certain selection, choose Selection. To search for data in a worksheet or in an entire workbook, select Sheet or Workbook.

    • Direction: You can choose to search either Down (default), or Up.

    • Match case — Check this if you want to search for case-sensitive data.

    • Match entire cell contents — Check this if you want to search for cells that contain just the characters that you typed in the Find what box.

Need more help?

You can always ask an expert in the Excel Tech Community or get support in the Answers community.

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Merge and unmerge cells

REPLACE, REPLACEB functions

Apply data validation to cells

In this example, the goal is to test the passwords in column B to see if they contain a number. This is a surprisingly tricky problem because Excel doesn’t have a function that will let you test for a number inside a text string directly. Note this is different from checking if a cell value is a number. You can easily perform that test with the ISNUMBER function. In this case, however, we to test if a cell value contains a number, which may occur anywhere. One solution is to use the FIND function with an array constant. In Excel 365, which supports dynamic array formulas, you can use a different formula based on the SEQUENCE function. Both approaches are explained below.

FIND function

The FIND function is designed to look inside a text string for a specific substring. If FIND finds the substring, it returns a position of the substring in the text as a number. If the substring is not found, FIND returns a #VALUE error. For example:

=FIND("p","apple") // returns 2
=FIND("z","apple") // returns #VALUE!

We can use this same idea to check for numbers as well:

=FIND(3,"app637") // returns 5
=FIND(9,"app637") // returns #VALUE!

The challenge in this case is that we need to check the values in column B for ten different numbers, 0-9. One way to do that is to supply these numbers as the array constant {0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9}. This is the approach taken in the formula in cell D5:

=COUNT(FIND({0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9},B5))>0

Inside the COUNT function, the FIND function is configured to look for all ten numbers in cell B5:

FIND({0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9},B5)

Because we are giving FIND ten values to look for, it returns an array with 10 results. In other words, FIND checks the text in B5 for each number and returns all results at once:

{#VALUE!,4,5,6,#VALUE!,#VALUE!,#VALUE!,#VALUE!,#VALUE!,#VALUE!}

Unless you look at arrays often, this may look pretty cryptic. Here is the translation: The number 1 was found at position 4, the number 2 was found at position 5, and the number 3 was found at position 6. All other numbers were not found and returned #VALUE errors. 

We are very close now to a final formula. We simply need to tally up results. To do this, we nest the FIND formula above inside the COUNT function like this:

=COUNT(FIND({0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9},B5))

FIND returns the array of results directly to COUNT, which counts the numbers in the array. COUNT only counts numeric values, and ignores errors. This means COUNT will return a number greater than zero if there are any numbers in the value being tested. In the case of cell B5, COUNT returns 3.

The last step is to check the result from COUNT and force a TRUE or FALSE result. We do this by adding «>0» to the end of formula:

=COUNT(FIND({0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9},B5))>0

Now the formula will return TRUE or FALSE. To display a custom result, you can use the IF function:

=IF(COUNT(FIND({0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9},B5))>0, "Yes", "No")

The original formula is now nested inside IF as the logical_test argument. This formula will return «Yes» if B5 contains a number and «No» if not.

SEQUENCE function

In Excel 365, which offers dynamic array formulas, we can take a different approach to this problem.

=COUNT(--MID(B5,SEQUENCE(LEN(B5)),1))>0

This isn’t necessarily a better approach, just a different way to solve the same problem. At the core, this formula uses the MID function together with the SEQUENCE function to split the text in cell B5 into an array:

MID(B5,SEQUENCE(LEN(B5)),1)

Working from the inside out, the LEN function returns the length of the text in cell B5:

LEN(B5) // returns 6

This number is returned to the SEQUENCE function as the rows argument, and SEQUENCE returns an array of numbers, 1-6:

=SEQUENCE(LEN(B5))
=SEQUENCE(6)
={1;2;3;4;5;6}

This array is returned to the MID function as the start_num argument, and, with num_chars set to 1, the MID function returns an array that contains the characters in cell B5:

=MID(B5,{1;2;3;4;5;6},1)
={"a";"b";"c";"1";"2";"3"}

We can now simplify the original formula to:

=COUNT(--{"a";"b";"c";"1";"2";"3"})>0

We use the double-negative (—) to get Excel to try and coerce the values in the array into numbers. The result looks like this:

=COUNT({#VALUE!;#VALUE!;#VALUE!;1;2;3})>0

The math operation created by the double negative (—) returns an actual number when successful and a #VALUE! error when the operation fails. The COUNT function counts the numbers, ignoring any errors, and returns 3. As above, we check the final count with «>0», and the result for cell B5 is TRUE.

Note: as you might guess, you can easily adapt this formula to count numbers in a text string.

Cell equals number?

Note that the formulas above are too complex if you only want to test if a cell equals a number. In that case, you can simply use the ISNUMBER function like this:

=ISNUMBER(A1)

Extracting numbers from a list of cells with mixed text is a common data cleaning task.

Unfortunately, there is no direct menu or function created in Excel to help us accomplish this.

In this tutorial we will look at three cases where you might have a list of mixed text, from which you might want to extract numbers:

  • When the number is always at the end of the text
  • When the number is always at the beginning of the text
  • When the number can be anywhere in the text

We will look at three different formulas that can be used to extract the numbers in each case.

At the end of the tutorial, we will also take a look at some VBA code that you can use to accomplish the same.

Brace yourself, this might get a little complex!

Extracting a Number from Mixed Text when Number is Always at the End of the Text

Consider the following example:

Mixed text with number at the end

Here, each cell has a mix of text and numbers, with the number always appearing at the end of the text. In such cases, we will need to use a combination of nested Excel functions to extract the numbers.

The functions we will use are:

  • FIND – This function searches for a character or string in another string and returns its position.
  • MIN – This function returns the smallest value in a list.
  • LEFT – This function extracts a given number of characters from the left side of a string.
  • SUBSTITUTE – This function replaces a particular substring of a given text with another substring.
  • IFERROR – This function returns an alternative result or formula if it finds an error in a given formula.

Essentially, we will be using the above functions altogether to perform the following sequence of tasks:

  1. Find the position of the first numeric value in the given cell
  2. Extract and remove the text part of the given cell (by removing everything to the left of the first numeric digit)

The formula that we will use to extract the numbers from cell A2 is as follows:

=SUBSTITUTE(A2,LEFT(A2,MIN(IFERROR(FIND({0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9},A2),""))-1),"")

Let us break down this formula to understand it better. We will go from the inner functions to the outer functions:

  • FIND({0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9},A2) 

This function tries to find the positions of all the numbers (0-9) in the cell A2. Thus it returns an arrayformula:

{#VALUE!,#VALUE!,#VALUE!,#VALUE!,#VALUE!,#VALUE!,9,7,8,#VALUE!}

It returns a #VALUE! error for all digits except the 7th, 8th, and 9th digits because it was not able to find these numbers (0,1,2,3,4,5,9) in cell A2. It simply returns the positions of numbers 6,7 and 8 which are the 9th, 7th, and 8th characters respectively in A2.

  • IFERROR(FIND({0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9},A2),””)

Next, the IFERROR function replaces all the error elements of the array with a blank (“”). As such it returns the arrayformula:

{“”,””,””,””,””,””,9,7,8,””}

  • MIN(IFERROR(FIND({0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9},A2),””)) 

After this the MIN function finds the array element with least value. This is basically the position of the first numeric character in A2. The function now returns the value 7.

  • LEFT(A2,MIN(IFERROR(FIND({0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9},A2),””))-1)

At this point we want to extract all text characters from A2 (so that we can remove them). So we want the LEFT function to extract all the characters starting backwards from the 7-1= 6th character. Thus we use the above formula. The result we get at this point is “arnold”. Notice we subtracted 1 from the second parameter of the LEFT function.

  • SUBSTITUTE(A2,LEFT(A2,MIN(IFERROR(FIND({0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9},A2),””))-1),””)

Now all that’s left to do is remove the string obtained, by replacing it with a blank. This can be easily achieved by using the SUBSTITUTE function: We finally get the numeric characters in the mixed text, which is “786”.

Once you are done entering the formula, make sure you press CTRL+SHIFT+Enter, instead of just the return key. This is because the formula involves arrays.

In a nutshell, here’s what’s happening when you break down the formula:

=SUBSTITUTE(A2,LEFT(A2,MIN(IFERROR(FIND({0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9},A2),””))-1),””)

=SUBSTITUTE(A2,LEFT(A2,MIN(IFERROR({{#VALUE!,#VALUE!,#VALUE!,#VALUE!,#VALUE!,#VALUE!,9,7,8,#VALUE!}),””))-1),””)

=SUBSTITUTE(A2,LEFT(A2,MIN({“”,””,””,””,””,””,9,7,8,””}))-1),””)

=SUBSTITUTE(A2,”arnold”,””)

=786

When you drag the formula down to the rest of the cells, here’s the result you get:

Substitute function to extract numbers at the end of the text
Also read: How to Generate Random Letters in Excel?

Extracting a Number from Mixed Text when Number is Always at the Beginning of the Text

Now let us consider the case where the numbers are always at the beginning of the Text.

Consider the following example:

Numbers in the beginning

Here, each cell has a mix of text and numbers, with the number always appearing at the beginning of the text. In such cases, we will again need to use a combination of nested Excel functions to extract the numbers.

In addition to the functions we used in the previous formula, we are going to use two additional functions. These are:   

  • MAX – This function returns the largest value in a list
  • RIGHT – This function extracts a given number of characters from the right side of a string
  • LEN – This function finds the length of (number of characters in) a given string.

Essentially, we will be using these functions altogether to perform the following sequence of tasks:

  1. Find the position of the last numeric value in the given cell
  2. Extract and remove the text part of the given cell (by removing everything to the right of the last numeric digit)

The formula that we will use to extract the numbers from cell A2 is as follows:

=SUBSTITUTE(A2,RIGHT(A2,LEN(A2)-MAX(IFERROR(FIND({0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9},A2),""))),"") 

Let us break down this formula to understand it better. We will go from the inner functions to the outer functions:

  • FIND({0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9},A2) 

This function tries to find the positions of all the numbers (0-9) in the cell A2. Thus it returns an arrayformula:

{#VALUE!,#VALUE!,1,#VALUE!,#VALUE!,2,#VALUE!,#VALUE!,#VALUE!,#VALUE!}

It returns a #VALUE! error for all digits except the 3rd and 6th digits because it was not able to find these numbers (0,1,3,4,6,7,8,9) in cell A2. It simply returns the positions of numbers 2 and 5 which are the 1st and 2nd characters respectively in A2.

  • IFERROR(FIND({0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9},A2),””)

Next, the IFERROR function replaces all the error elements of the array with a blank. As such it returns the array formula:

{“”,””,1,””,””,2,””,””,””,””}

  • MAX(IFERROR(FIND({0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9},A2),””)) 

After this the MAX function finds the array element with the highest value. This is basically the position of the last numeric character in A2. The function now returns the value 2.

  • LEN(A2)-MAX(IFERROR(FIND({0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9},A2),””))

At this point we want to extract all text characters from A2 (so that we can remove them). We need to specify how many characters we want to remove. This is obtained by computing the length of the string in A2 minus the position of the last numeric value.Thus we will get the value 8-2 = “6”.

  • RIGHT(A2,LEN(A2)-MAX(IFERROR(FIND({0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9},A2),””)))

We can now use the RIGHT function to extract 6 characters starting from the 2nd character onwards. The result we get at this point is “arnold”.

  • SUBSTITUTE(A2,RIGHT(A2,LEN(A2)-MAX(IFERROR(FIND({0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9},A2),””))),””)

Now all that’s left to do is remove this string by replacing it with a blank. This is easily achieved by using the SUBSTITUTE function. We finally get the numeric characters in the mixed text, which is “25”.

Again, once you are done entering the formula, don’t forget to press CTRL+SHIFT+Enter, instead of just the return key.

In a nutshell, here’s what’s happening when you break down the formula:

=SUBSTITUTE(A7,RIGHT(A7,LEN(A7)-MAX(IFERROR(FIND({0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9},A7),””))),””)

=SUBSTITUTE(A7,RIGHT(A7,LEN(A7)-MAX(IFERROR({#VALUE!,#VALUE!,1,#VALUE!,#VALUE!,2,#VALUE!,#VALUE!,#VALUE!,#VALUE!}

),””))),””)

=SUBSTITUTE(A7,RIGHT(A7,LEN(A7)-MAX({“”,””,1,””,””,2,””,””,””,””}

)),””)

=SUBSTITUTE(A7,RIGHT(A7,LEN(A7)-2),””)

=SUBSTITUTE(A7,RIGHT(A7,8-2),””)

=SUBSTITUTE(A7,”arnold”,””)

=25

When you drag the formula down to the rest of the cells, here’s the result you get:

Substitute function to extract numbers in the beginning

Extracting a Number from Mixed Text when Number can be Anywhere in the Text

Finally let us consider the case where the numbers can be anywhere in the text, be it the beginning, end or middle part of the text.

Let’s take a look at the following example:

Numbers anywhere in the string

Here, each cell has a mix of text and numbers, where the number appears in any part of the text. In such cases, we will need to use a combination of nested Excel functions to extract the numbers.

Here are the functions that we are going to use this time:       

  • INDIRECT – This function simply returns a reference to a range of values.
  • ROW – This function returns a row number of a reference.
  • MID – This function extracts a given number of characters from the middle of a string.
  • TEXTJOIN – This function combines text from multiple ranges or strings using a specified delimiter between them.

Note that the formula discussed in this section will work only in Excel version 2016 onwards as it uses the newly introduced TEXTJOIN function. If you are using an older version of Excel, then you may consider using the VBA method instead (discussed in the next section).

In this method, we will essentially be using the above functions altogether to perform the following sequence of tasks:

  1. Break up the given text into an array of individual characters
  2. Find out and remove all characters that are not numbers
  3. Combine the remaining characters into a full number

The formula that we will use to extract the numbers from cell A2 is as follows:

=TEXTJOIN("",TRUE,IFERROR(MID(A2,ROW(INDIRECT("1:"&LEN(A2))),1)*1,""))

Let us break down this formula to understand it better. We will go from the inner functions to the outer functions:

  • LEN(A2) 

This function finds the length of the string in cell A2. In our case it returns 13.

  • INDIRECT(“1:”&LEN(A2)) 

This function just returns a reference to all the rows from row 1 to row 12.

  • ROW(INDIRECT(“1:”&LEN(A2))) 

Now this function returns the row numbers of each of these rows. In other words, it simply returns an array of numbers 1 to 12. This function thus returns the array:

{1;2;3;4;5;6;7;8;9;10;11;12;13}

Note: We use the ROW() function instead of simply hard-coding an array of numbers 1 to 12 because we want to be able to customize this formula depending on the size of the string being worked on. This will ensure that the function adjusts itself when copied to another cell. ·         

  • MID(A2,ROW(INDIRECT(“1:”&LEN(A2))),1) 

Next the MID function extracts the character from A2 that corresponds to each position specified in the array. In other words, it returns an array containing each character of the text in A2 as a separate element, as follows:

{“a”;”r”;”n”;”o”;”l”;”d”;”1″;”4″;”3″;”b”;”l”;”u”;”e”}

  • IFERROR(MID(A2,ROW(INDIRECT(“1:”&LEN(A2))),1)*1,””) 

After this, the IFERROR function replaces all the elements of the array that are non-numeric. This is because it checks if the array element can be multiplied by 1. If the element is a number, it can easily be multiplied to return the same number. But if the element is a non-numeric character, then it cannot be multiplied with 1 and thus returns an error. 

The IFERROR function here specifies that if an element gives an error on multiplication, the result returned will be blank. As such it returns the arrayformula:

{“”;””;””;””;””;””;1;4;3;””;””;””;””}

  • TEXTJOIN(“”,TRUE,IFERROR(MID(A2,ROW(INDIRECT(“1:”&LEN(A2))),1)*1,””))

Finally, we can simply combine the array elements together using the TEXTJOIN function. The TEXTJOIN function here combines the string characters that remain (which are the numbers only) and ignores the empty string characters. We finally get the numeric characters in the mixed text, which is “143”.

Once you are done entering the formula, don’t forget to press CTRL+SHIFT+Enter, instead of just the return key.

In a nutshell, here’s what’s happening when you break down the formula:

=TEXTJOIN(“”,TRUE,IFERROR(MID(A2,ROW(INDIRECT(“1:”&LEN(A2))),1)*1,””))

=TEXTJOIN(“”,TRUE,IFERROR(MID(A2,ROW(INDIRECT(“1:”&13)),1)*1,””))

=TEXTJOIN(“”,TRUE,IFERROR(MID(A2,{1;2;3;4;5;6;7;8;9;10;11;12;13},1)*1,””))

=TEXTJOIN(“”,TRUE,IFERROR({“a”;”r”;”n”;”o”;”l”;”d”;”1″;”4″;”3″;”b”;”l”;”u”;”e”}

*1,””))

=TEXTJOIN(“”,TRUE,IFERROR(MID(A2,{1;2;3;4;5;6;7;8;9;10;11;12;13},1)*1,””))

=TEXTJOIN(“”,TRUE, {“”;””;””;””;””;””;1;4;3;””;””;””;””})

=143

When you drag the formula down to the rest of the cells, here’s the result you get:

Numbers extracted

Using VBA to Extract Number from Mixed Text in Excel

The above method works well enough in extracting numbers from anywhere in a mixed text.

However, it requires one to use the TEXTJOIN function, which is not available in older Excel versions (versions before Excel 2016).

If you’re on a version of Excel that does not support TEXTJOIN, then you can, instead, use a snippet of VBA code to get the job done.

If you have never used VBA before, don’t worry. All you need to do is copy the code below into your VBA developer window and run it on your worksheet data.

Here’s the code that you will need to copy:

'Code by Steve Scott from spreadsheetplanet.com 
Function ExtractNumbers(CellRef As String)
Dim StringLength As Integer
StringLength = Len(CellRef)
For i = 1 To StringLength
   If (IsNumeric(Mid(CellRef, i, 1))) Then Result = Result & Mid(CellRef, i, 1)
Next i
ExtractNumbers = Result
End Function

The above code creates a user-defined function called ExtractNumbers() that you can use in your worksheet to extract numbers from mixed text in any cell.

To get to your VBA developer window, follow these steps:

  1. From the Developer tab, select Visual Basic.
Click on Visual Basic
  1. Once your VBA window opens, Click Insert->Module. That’s it, you can now start coding.
Click on Module

Type or copy-paste the above lines of code into the module window. Your code is now ready to run.

Enter the VB Code

Now, whenever you want to extract numbers from a cell, simply type the name of the function, passing the cell reference as a parameter. So to extract numbers from a cell A2, you will simply need to type the function as follows in a cell:

=ExtractNumbers(A2)
Using the ExtractNumbers function

Explanation of the Code

Now let us take some time to understand how this code works.

  • In this code, we defined a function named ExtractNumbers, that takes the string in the cell we want to work on. We assigned the name CellRef to this string.

Function ExtractNumbers(CellRef As String)

  • We created a variable named StringLength, that will hold the length of the string, CellRef.

Dim StringLength As Integer

StringLength = Len(CellRef)

  • Next, we loop through each character in the string CellRef and find out if it is a number. We use the function Mid(CellRef, i, 1) to extract a character from the string at each iteration of the loop. We also use the IsNumeric() function to find out if the extracted character is a number. Each extracted numeric character is combined together into a string called Result.

For i = 1 To StringLength

         If (IsNumeric(Mid(CellRef, i, 1))) Then Result = Result & Mid(CellRef, i, 1)

Next i

  • This Result is then returned by the function.

ExtractNumbers = Result

Note that since the workbook now has VBA code in it, you need to save it with .xls or .xlsm extension.

You can also choose to save this to your Personal Macro Workbook, if you think you will be needing to run this code a lot. This will allow you to run the code on any Excel workbook of yours.

Well, that was a lot!

In this tutorial, we showed you how to extract numbers from mixed text in excel.

We saw three cases where the numbers are situated in different parts of the text. We also showed you how to use VBA to get the task done quickly.

Other Excel articles you may also like:

  • How to Extract URL from Hyperlinks in Excel (Using VBA Formula)
  • How to Reverse a Text String in Excel (Using Formula & VBA)
  • How to Add Text to the Beginning or End of all Cells in Excel
  • How to Remove Text after a Specific Character in Excel (3 Easy Methods)
  • How to Separate Address in Excel?
  • How to Extract Text After Space Character in Excel?
  • How to Find the Last Space in Text String in Excel?
  • How to Remove Space before Text in Excel

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