How to Use FIND Function in Excel + Tips

Hello everyone! Today i will show you how to use FIND function in Excel step by step.

What is FIND Function in Excel?

The FIND function help you find the starting character position number of one text string inside another cell. Unlike SEARCH formula, FIND is case-sensitive (meaning "A" and "a" are not same) and it does not support wildcard characters (* or ?)!

📚 Related Tutorial: Need case-insensitive flexible searching instead? Check out How to Use SEARCH Function in Excel!

🛠️ Formula Syntax

=FIND(find_text, within_text, [start_num])

• find_text: The text word or letter you want to look for (example: "Excel" or "@", case-sensitive!).
• within_text: The cell or full text string where you want to search (example: A1).
• [start_num] (Optional): Character position where Excel starts searching from (default is 1).

📊 Simple Examples

Example 1: Basic Position Search

=FIND("Excel", "Microsoft Excel")

👉 Result: 11 (Because capital "Excel" starts at character 11!).

Example 2: Case-Sensitive Difference Example

=FIND("excel", "Microsoft Excel")

👉 Result: #VALUE! Error!
Because FIND is case-sensitive, lowercase "excel" does not match capital "Excel".

💡 Pro Tip: If you want case-insensitive search that ignores uppercase/lowercase, use SEARCH function instead!

Example 3: Search Text inside a Cell

If cell A1 contains "Microsoft Excel 2026":

=FIND("Excel", A1)

👉 Result: 11

Example 4: Search Starting from Specific Character (start_num)

=FIND("a", "Banana", 3)

Excel starts searching from 3rd character ("n"), so it skips the first "a" and returns: 4.

Example 5: Check If Exact Text Exists (ISNUMBER + FIND)

Combine FIND with ISNUMBER to test if exact case text exists:

=ISNUMBER(FIND("Excel", A1))

• If "Excel" matches exact case ➔ returns TRUE
• If case is different or text missing ➔ returns FALSE

Example 6: Prevent #VALUE! Error if Text Missing

If text is missing or case does not match, use IFERROR to display clean text:

=IFERROR(FIND("Excel", A1), "Not Found")

⚡ FIND vs SEARCH Comparison

💡 Quick Tips & Easy Memory Rule:

1. Memory Rule: FIND = Find EXACT position with strict case sensitivity.
2. When to use FIND vs SEARCH? Use FIND when searching exact product codes, serial numbers, or passwords where uppercase/lowercase matters! Use SEARCH for general text searches.

📚 Related Resources & Tutorials

• How to Use SEARCH Function in Excel
• How to Use TEXTBEFORE Function in Excel
• How to Use TEXTAFTER Function in Excel
• Top 15 Basic Excel Formulas for Beginners ↗