Navigation:  Formulas and functions > Functions from A to Z > SEARCH (search for text)

Syntax:

SEARCH(SearchText, Text [, StartPos])

Description:

This returns the position of the text string SearchText within the text string Text.

StartPos (optional) lets you specify the position (character) at which to start the search. If omitted, the search starts at the first character.

The SEARCH function is not case-sensitive, i.e., it does not distinguish between uppercase and lowercase letters. To perform a case-sensitive search, use the FIND function instead.

Example:

SEARCH("a", "Banana") returns 2

SEARCH("A", "Banana") returns 2

SEARCH("a", "Banana", 3) returns 4

SEARCH("x", "Banana") returns a #VALUE! error value, since "x" does not occur in "Banana".

For example, if the word "banana" is in cell B5, you can enter the formula as follows:

SEARCH("a", B5) returns 2

See also:

FIND, REPLACE, SUBSTITUTE, EXACT, MID