Replace values in excel formulas

This article describes the formula syntax and usage of the REPLACE and REPLACEB
 function in Microsoft Excel.

Description

REPLACE replaces part of a text string, based on the number of characters you specify, with a different text string.

REPLACEB replaces part of a text string, based on the number of bytes you specify, with a different text string.

Important: 

• These functions may not be available in all languages.

• REPLACE is intended for use with languages that use the single-byte character set (SBCS), whereas REPLACEB is intended for use with languages that use the double-byte character set (DBCS). The default language setting on your computer affects the return value in the following way:

• REPLACE always counts each character, whether single-byte or double-byte, as 1, no matter what the default language setting is.

• REPLACEB counts each double-byte character as 2 when you have enabled the editing of a language that supports DBCS and then set it as the default language. Otherwise, REPLACEB counts each character as 1.

The languages that support DBCS include Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), and Korean.

Syntax

REPLACE(old_text, start_num, num_chars, new_text)

REPLACEB(old_text, start_num, num_bytes, new_text)

The REPLACE and REPLACEB function syntax has the following arguments:

• Old_text    Required. Text in which you want to replace some characters.

• Start_num    Required. The position of the character in old_text that you want to replace with new_text.

• Num_chars    Required. The number of characters in old_text that you want REPLACE to replace with new_text.

• Num_bytes    Required. The number of bytes in old_text that you want REPLACEB to replace with new_text.

• New_text    Required. The text that will replace characters in old_text.

Example

Copy the example data in the following table, and paste it in cell A1 of a new Excel worksheet. For formulas to show results, select them, press F2, and then press Enter. If you need to, you can adjust the column widths to see all the data.

Data
abcdefghijk
2009
123456
Formula	Description (Result)	Result
=REPLACE(A2,6,5,»*»)	Replaces five characters in abcdefghijk with a single * character, starting with the sixth character (f).	abcde*k
=REPLACE(A3,3,2,»10″)	Replaces the last two digits (09) of 2009 with 10.	2010
=REPLACE(A4,1,3,»@»)	Replaces the first three characters of 123456 with a single @ character.	@456

Purpose 

Usage notes 

The SUBSTITUTE function in Microsoft Excel is a handy tool that enables users to replace single or multiple instances of a specific character or text string with a different character or text string. To see how this works on a spreadsheet, we will discuss the syntax and four arguments of the Excel SUBSTITUTE function.

Next, we will try our hand at some SUBSTITUTE formulas by working through a couple of examples. SUBSTITUTE is an in-built worksheet function categorized as a String/Text function in Excel. The SUBSTITUTE function is case-sensitive and does not support wildcard characters.

Syntax

=SUBSTITUTE(text, old_text, new_text, [nth_instance])

Arguments:

text – This is a required argument where you will input the original text string within which you wish to substitute the character(s) supplied through the old_text argument. To supply a value for this argument, you may use a cell reference, enter a text string, or use a return supplied by another formula.

old_text – This is a required argument where you will input the character(s) or text string you wish to substitute.

new_text – This is a required argument where you will input the character(s) or text string you wish to substitute the contents of old­_text argument with.

nth_instance – This is an optional argument that lets you instruct Excel as to which instance of the character(s) or text string in the old_text argument you will like to replace. If omitted, the function will substitute all instances of the character(s) or text string entered in the old_text argument.

Important Characteristics of the SUBSTITUTE function

• SUBSTITUTE function is a helpful tool that enables you to replace specific character(s) or text string by entering them in the old_text argument, with character(s) or text string entered in the new_text
• The optional nth_instance argument enables you to choose a specific instance of the character(s) or text string entered in the old_text The omission of this argument will result in the replacement of all old_text instances with character(s) or text string supplied in the new_text argument.
• SUBSTITUTE is a case-sensitive function and does not support wildcard characters.

Examples of the Excel SUBSTITUTE function

Here are some basic examples of how you can incorporate and use the SUBSTITUTE function in your worksheet. To get a firm hold on the workings of these formulas, pull up a spreadsheet and try using these formulas alongside, as you read through the examples.

1. Substitute all Instances of a String or a Character

=SUBSTITUTE(A2,"1","3")

Let’s break down the formula’s instructions to Excel and see what it looks like using words. In effect, we are asking Excel to: Look at the contents in cell A2 (text argument) and locate all the «1»s (old_text argument) in that cell. Next, substitute all instances of «1» (since we did not supply the nth_instance argument) with «3» (new_text argument).

Here, Excel will substitute all instances of «1» and return «Floor 3, Room 3».

2. Substitute a Specific Instance of a String or a Character

=SUBSTITUTE(A2,"1","3", 2)

This is the same formula we used in the previous example, but with the nth_instance argument supplied as 2. The nth_instance­ argument will restrict the substitution to only the specified instance, which in our example is the 2^nd instance of «1». Therefore, the function will only substitute the 2^nd instance and return «Floor 1, Room 3».

3. Case-sensitivity of the SUBSTITUTE function

=SUBSTITUTE(A2,"Room","Chamber")

Vs.

=SUBSTITUTE(A2,"room","Chamber")

Notice how the formula substitutes text string only when you enter the appropriate case. Using «room» instead of «Room» results in no substitution at all.

4. Nested SUBSTITUTE formula

=SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A2,"Floor","Floor No."), "Room", "Room No.")

A nested SUBSTITUTE formula allows us to replace multiple text strings using a single formula. For example, let’s assume we want to add a text string «No.» after both «Floor» and «Room». We would need to use the following formulas:

=SUBSTITUTE(A2,"Floor","Floor No.")

And

=SUBSTITUTE(A2,"Room","Room No.")

Instead, we merge these formulas and nest one SUBSTITUTE formula into another like shown above. The nested formula will involve 2 steps.

• Step-1: It will first work on the «nested» formula, i.e. the one inside the brackets of the first SUBSTITUTE formula. So, the formula will first compute the return for substitution of the text string «Floor» with «Floor No.» At this point, this is what the return looks like: «Floor No.1, Room 1»

• Step-2: Next, the second SUBSTITUTE formula, i.e. the one outside the brackets, looks for the text string «Room» in «Floor No.1, Room 1» (which is the return from step 1) and substitutes «Room» with «Room No.» to give us our desired return:»Floor No.1, Room No.1″

Excel REPLACE Function

Excel REPLACE function is very similar to the SUBSTITUTE function, it can be used for replacing a sequence of characters in a string/text with another set of characters. Let’s briefly go over the syntax of this function.

Syntax

=REPLACE(old_text, start, number_of_chars, new_text)

Arguments:

old_text – The original string value works the same way as in the SUBSTITUTE function.
start – The second argument is the position of the character(s) you want to replace.
number_of_chars – The third argument is where you input the number of character(s) you want to replace, starting from the position mentioned in the second argument.
new_text – The fourth argument is similar to the SUBSTITUTE function’s new_text argument. It is the text string you want to replace the specified character(s) with.

Example of Excel Replace Function:

The only difference between the SUBSTITUTE and REPLACE function is the method of identifying the strings that need to be substituted or replaced. Let’s work through an example of the REPLACE function to see how it uses a different method to accomplish a purpose similar to that of the SUBSTITUTE function.

=REPLACE(A2,"7","1","2")

As we can see, the formula returns «Floor 2, Room 1» since we replaced the «1» with «2». Notice how the REPLACE function does not allow specifying which instance of a particular character or text string we want to replace. It makes intuitive sense because we are already entering the position of the character rather than matching a specified character(s) or text string like with the SUBSTITUTE function.

SUBSTITUTE VS REPLACE – When to choose Which?

If you do not know the specific character(s) of the text string you want to replace, but know the position of those character(s) in the text string, use the REPLACE function. If regardless of the position, you want to change the character(s) in the text string by matching a specified text string, use the SUBSTITUTE function.

I hope these examples gave you a good insight into how you can use the SUBSTITUTE function in your worksheets. Spend a little time with these formulas, and you will champion them in no time. I will see you soon with another powerful Excel function.

Date yes Add (Subtract) Days to a Date Concatenate Dates Convert Date to Number Convert Date to Text Month Name to Number Create Date Range from Dates Day Number of Year Month Name from Date First Day of Month Add (Subtract) Weeks to a Date If Functions with Dates Max Date Number of Days Between Dates Number of Days in a Month Number of Weeks Between Dates Number of Years Between Dates Split Date & Time into Separate Cells Countdown Remaining Days Insert Dates Random Date Generator Using Dynamic Ranges — Year to Date Values Add (Subtract) Years to a Date Date Formula Examples Extract Day from Date Get Day Name from Date Count Days Left in Month / Year Count Workdays Left in Month / Year Get Last Day of Month Last Business Day of Month / Year Number of Work / Business Days in Month Weekday Abbreviations Auto Populate Dates Number of Months Between Dates Quarter from a Date Years of Service Change Date Format Compare Dates Time yes Add (Subtract) Hours to Time Add (Subtract) Minutes to Time Add (Subtract) Seconds to Time Add Up time (Total Time) Time Differences Change Time Format Convert Minutes to Hours Convert Time to Decimal Convert Time to Hours Convert Time to Minutes Convert Time to Seconds Military Time Round Time to Nearest 15 Minutes Overtime Calculator Number of Hours Between Times Convert Seconds to Minutes, Hours, or Time Count Hours Worked Time Differences Time Format — Show Minutes Seconds Text yes Add Commas to Cells Get First Word from Text Capitalize First Letter Clean & Format Phone #s Remove Extra Trailing / Leading Spaces Add Spaces to Cell Assign Number Value to Text Combine Cells with Comma Combine First and Last Names Convert Text String to Date Convert Text to Number Extract Text From Cell Get Last Word Remove Unwated Characters Extract Text Before or After Character How to Split Text String by Space, Comma, & More Remove Special Characters Remove First Characters from Left Substitute Multiple Values Switch First & Last Names w/ Commas Remove Specific Text from a Cell Extract Text Between Characters (Ex. Parenthesis) Add Leading Zeros to a Number Remove Line Breaks from Text Remove all Numbers from Text Reverse Text Remove Non-Numeric Characters Remove Last Character(s) From Right Separate First and Last Names Separate Text & Numbers Round yes Round Formulas Round Price to Nearest Dollar or Cent Round to Nearest 10, 100, or 1000 Round to Nearest 5 or .5 Round Percentages Round to Significant Figures Count yes Count Blank and Non-blank Cells Count Cells Between Two Numbers Count Cells not Equal to Count if Cells are in Range Count Times Word Appears in Cell Count Words in Cell Count Specific Characters in Column Count Total Number of Characters in Column Count Cells that Equal one of two Results Count Cells that do not Contain Count Cells that Contain Specific Text Count Unique Values in Range Countif — Multiple Criteria Count Total Number of Cells in Range Count Cells with Any Text Count Total Cells in a Table Lookup yes Two Dimensional VLOOKUP VLOOKUP Simple Example Vlookup — Multiple Matches Case Sensitive Lookup Case Sensitive VLOOKUP Sum if — VLOOKUP Case Sensitive Lookup Case Sensitive VLOOKUP Find Duplicates w/ VLOOKUP or MATCH INDEX MATCH MATCH Lookup — Return Cell Address (Not Value) Lookup Last Value in Column or Row Reverse VLOOKUP (Right to Left) Risk Score Bucket with VLOOKUP Sum with a VLOOKUP Function VLOOKUP & INDIRECT VLOOKUP Concatenate VLOOKUP Contains (Partial Match) 17 Reasons Why Your XLOOKUP is Not Working Double (Nested) XLOOKUP — Dynamic Columns IFERROR (& IFNA) XLOOKUP Lookup Min / Max Value Nested VLOOKUP Top 11 Alternatives to VLOOKUP (Updated 2022!) VLOOKUP – Dynamic Column Reference VLOOKUP – Fix #N/A Error VLOOKUP – Multiple Sheets at Once VLOOKUP & HLOOKUP Combined VLOOKUP & MATCH Combined VLOOKUP Between Worksheets or Spreadsheets VLOOKUP Duplicate Values VLOOKUP Letter Grades VLOOKUP Return Multiple Columns VLOOKUP Returns 0? Return Blank Instead VLOOKUP w/o #N/A Error XLOOKUP Multiple Sheets at Once XLOOKUP Between Worksheets or Spreadsheets XLOOKUP by Date XLOOKUP Duplicate Values XLOOKUP Multiple Criteria XLOOKUP Return Multiple Columns XLOOKUP Returns 0? Return Blank Instead XLOOKUP Text XLOOKUP with IF XLOOKUP With If Statement Misc. yes Sort Multiple Columns Use Cell Value in Formula Percentage Change Between Numbers Percentage Breakdown Rank Values Add Spaces to Cell CAGR Formula Average Time Decimal Part of Number Integer Part of a Number Compare Items in a List Dealing with NA() Errors Get Worksheet Name Wildcard Characters Hyperlink to Current Folder Compound Interest Formula Percentage Increase Create Random Groups Sort with the Small and Large Functions Non-volatile Function Alternatives Decrease a Number by a Percentage Calculate Percent Variance Profit Margin Calculator Convert Column Number to Letter Get Full Address of Named Range Insert File Name Insert Path Latitute / Longitude Functions Replace Negative Values Reverse List Range Convert State Name to Abbreviation Create Dynamic Hyperlinks Custom Sort List with Formula Data Validation — Custom Formulas Dynamic Sheet Reference (INDIRECT) Reference Cell in Another Sheet or Workbook Get Cell Value by Address Get Worksheet Name Increment Cell Reference List Sheet Names List Skipped Numbers in Sequence Return Address of Max Value in Range Search by Keywords Select Every Other (or Every nth) Row Basics yes Cell Reference Basics — A1, R1C1, 3d, etc. Add Up (Sum) Entire Column or Row Into to Dynamic Array Formulas Conversions yes Convert Time Zones Convert Celsius to Fahrenheit Convert Pounds to Kilograms Convert Time to Unix Time Convert Feet to Meters Convert Centimeters to Inches Convert Kilometers to Miles Convert Inches to Feet Convert Date to Julian Format Convert Column Letter to Number Tests yes Test if a Range Contains any Text Test if any Cell in Range is Number Test if a Cell Contains a Specific Value Test if Cell Contains Any Number Test if Cell Contains Specific Number Test if Cell is Number or Text If yes Percentile If Subtotal If Sumproduct If Large If and Small If Median If Concatentate If Max If Rank If TEXTJOIN If Sum yes Sum if — Begins With / Ends With Sum if — Month or Year to Date Sum if — By Year Sum if — Blank / Non-Blank Sum if — Horizontal Sum Count / Sum If — Cell Color INDIRECT Sum Sum If — Across Multiple Sheets Sum If — By Month Sum If — Cells Not Equal To Sum If — Not Blank Sum if — Between Values Sum If — Week Number Sum Text Sum if — By Category or Group Sum if — Cell Contains Specific Text (Wildcards) Sum if — Date Rnage Sum if — Dates Equal Sum if — Day of Week Sum if — Greater Than Sum if — Less Than Average yes Average Non-Zero Values Average If — Not Blank Average — Ignore 0 Average — Ignore Errors Math yes Multiplication Table Cube Roots nth Roots Square Numbers Square Roots Calculations yes Calculate a Ratio Calculate Age KILLLLLLL Calculate Loan Payments GPA Formula Calculate VAT Tax How to Grade Formulas Find yes Find a Number in a Column / Workbook Find Most Frequent Numbers Find Smallest n Values Find nth Occurance of Character in Text Find and Extract Number from String Find Earliest or Latest Date Based on Criteria Find First Cell with Any Value Find Last Row Find Last Row with Data Find Missing Values Find Largest n Values Most Frequent Number Conditional Formatting yes Conditional Format — Dates & Times Conditional Format — Highlight Blank Cells New Functions XLOOKUP Replaces VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP, and INDEX / MATCH Logical yes AND Checks whether all conditions are met. TRUE/FALSE IF If condition is met, do something, if not, do something else. IFERROR If result is an error then do something else. NOT Changes TRUE to FALSE and FALSE to TRUE. OR Checks whether any conditions are met. TRUE/FALSE XOR Checks whether one and only one condition is met. TRUE/FALSE Lookup & Reference yes FALSE The logical value: FALSE. TRUE The logical value: TRUE. ADDRESS Returns a cell address as text. AREAS Returns the number of areas in a reference. CHOOSE Chooses a value from a list based on it’s position number. COLUMN Returns the column number of a cell reference. COLUMNS Returns the number of columns in an array. HLOOKUP Lookup a value in the first row and return a value. HYPERLINK Creates a clickable link. INDEX Returns a value based on it’s column and row numbers. INDIRECT Creates a cell reference from text. LOOKUP Looks up values either horizontally or vertically. MATCH Searches for a value in a list and returns its position. OFFSET Creates a reference offset from a starting point. ROW Returns the row number of a cell reference. ROWS Returns the number of rows in an array. TRANSPOSE Flips the oriention of a range of cells. VLOOKUP Lookup a value in the first column and return a value. Date & Time yes DATE Returns a date from year, month, and day. DATEDIF Number of days, months or years between two dates. DATEVALUE Converts a date stored as text into a valid date DAY Returns the day as a number (1-31). DAYS Returns the number of days between two dates. DAYS360 Returns days between 2 dates in a 360 day year. EDATE Returns a date, n months away from a start date. EOMONTH Returns the last day of the month, n months away date. HOUR Returns the hour as a number (0-23). MINUTE Returns the minute as a number (0-59). MONTH Returns the month as a number (1-12). NETWORKDAYS Number of working days between 2 dates. NETWORKDAYS.INTL Working days between 2 dates, custom weekends. NOW Returns the current date and time. SECOND Returns the second as a number (0-59) TIME Returns the time from a hour, minute, and second. TIMEVALUE Converts a time stored as text into a valid time. TODAY Returns the current date. WEEKDAY Returns the day of the week as a number (1-7). WEEKNUM Returns the week number in a year (1-52). WORKDAY The date n working days from a date. WORKDAY.INTL The date n working days from a date, custom weekends. YEAR Returns the year. YEARFRAC Returns the fraction of a year between 2 dates. Engineering yes CONVERT Convert number from one unit to another. Financial yes FV Calculates the future value. PV Calculates the present value. NPER Calculates the total number of payment periods. PMT Calculates the payment amount. RATE Calculates the interest Rate. NPV Calculates the net present value. IRR The internal rate of return for a set of periodic CFs. XIRR The internal rate of return for a set of non-periodic CFs. PRICE Calculates the price of a bond. YIELD Calculates the bond yield. INTRATE The interest rate of a fully invested security. Information yes CELL Returns information about a cell. ERROR.TYPE Returns a value representing the cell error. ISBLANK Test if cell is blank. TRUE/FALSE ISERR Test if cell value is an error, ignores #N/A. TRUE/FALSE ISERROR Test if cell value is an error. TRUE/FALSE ISEVEN Test if cell value is even. TRUE/FALSE ISFORMULA Test if cell is a formula. TRUE/FALSE ISLOGICAL Test if cell is logical (TRUE or FALSE). TRUE/FALSE ISNA Test if cell value is #N/A. TRUE/FALSE ISNONTEXT Test if cell is not text (blank cells are not text). TRUE/FALSE ISNUMBER Test if cell is a number. TRUE/FALSE ISODD Test if cell value is odd. TRUE/FALSE ISREF Test if cell value is a reference. TRUE/FALSE ISTEXT Test if cell is text. TRUE/FALSE N Converts a value to a number. NA Returns the error: #N/A. TYPE Returns the type of value in a cell. Math yes ABS Calculates the absolute value of a number. AGGREGATE Define and perform calculations for a database or a list. CEILING Rounds a number up, to the nearest specified multiple. COS Returns the cosine of an angle. DEGREES Converts radians to degrees. DSUM Sums database records that meet certain criteria. EVEN Rounds to the nearest even integer. EXP Calculates the exponential value for a given number. FACT Returns the factorial. FLOOR Rounds a number down, to the nearest specified multiple. GCD Returns the greatest common divisor. INT Rounds a number down to the nearest integer. LCM Returns the least common multiple. LN Returns the natural logarithm of a number. LOG Returns the logarithm of a number to a specified base. LOG10 Returns the base-10 logarithm of a number. MOD Returns the remainder after dividing. MROUND Rounds a number to a specified multiple. ODD Rounds to the nearest odd integer. PI The value of PI. POWER Calculates a number raised to a power. PRODUCT Multiplies an array of numbers. QUOTIENT Returns the integer result of division. RADIANS Converts an angle into radians. RAND Calculates a random number between 0 and 1. RANDBETWEEN Calculates a random number between two numbers. ROUND Rounds a number to a specified number of digits. ROUNDDOWN Rounds a number down (towards zero). ROUNDUP Rounds a number up (away from zero). SIGN Returns the sign of a number. SIN Returns the sine of an angle. SQRT Calculates the square root of a number. SUBTOTAL Returns a summary statistic for a series of data. SUM Adds numbers together. SUMIF Sums numbers that meet a criteria. SUMIFS Sums numbers that meet multiple criteria. SUMPRODUCT Multiplies arrays of numbers and sums the resultant array. TAN Returns the tangent of an angle. TRUNC Truncates a number to a specific number of digits. Stats yes AVERAGE Averages numbers. AVERAGEA Averages numbers. Includes text & FALSE =0, TRUE =1. AVERAGEIF Averages numbers that meet a criteria. AVERAGEIFS Averages numbers that meet multiple criteria. CORREL Calculates the correlation of two series. COUNT Counts cells that contain a number. COUNTA Count cells that are non-blank. COUNTBLANK Counts cells that are blank. COUNTIF Counts cells that meet a criteria. COUNTIFS Counts cells that meet multiple criteria. FORECAST Predict future y-values from linear trend line. FREQUENCY Counts values that fall within specified ranges. GROWTH Calculates Y values based on exponential growth. INTERCEPT Calculates the Y intercept for a best-fit line. LARGE Returns the kth largest value. LINEST Returns statistics about a trendline. MAX Returns the largest number. MEDIAN Returns the median number. MIN Returns the smallest number. MODE Returns the most common number. PERCENTILE Returns the kth percentile. PERCENTILE.INC Returns the kth percentile. Where k is inclusive. PERCENTILE.EXC Returns the kth percentile. Where k is exclusive. QUARTILE Returns the specified quartile value. QUARTILE.INC Returns the specified quartile value. Inclusive. QUARTILE.EXC Returns the specified quartile value. Exclusive. RANK Rank of a number within a series. RANK.AVG Rank of a number within a series. Averages. RANK.EQ Rank of a number within a series. Top Rank. SLOPE Calculates the slope from linear regression. SMALL Returns the kth smallest value. STDEV Calculates the standard deviation. STDEV.P Calculates the SD of an entire population. STDEV.S Calculates the SD of a sample. STDEVP Calculates the SD of an entire population TREND Calculates Y values based on a trendline. Text yes CHAR Returns a character specified by a code. CLEAN Removes all non-printable characters. CODE Returns the numeric code for a character. CONCATENATE Combines text together. DOLLAR Converts a number to text in currency format. EXACT Test if cells are exactly equal. Case-sensitive. TRUE/FALSE FIND Locates position of text within a cell.Case-sensitive. LEFT Truncates text a number of characters from the left. LEN Counts number of characters in text. LOWER Converts text to lower case. MID Extracts text from the middle of a cell. PROPER Converts text to proper case. REPLACE Replaces text based on it’s location. REPT Repeats text a number of times. RIGHT Truncates text a number of characters from the right. SEARCH Locates position of text within a cell.Not Case-sensitive. SUBSTITUTE Finds and replaces text. Case-sensitive. TEXT Converts a value into text with a specific number format. TRIM Removes all extra spaces from text. UPPER Converts text to upper case. VALUE Converts a number stored as text into a number.