Simulate string split function in Excel formula

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a_m0d picture a_m0d · Jun 23, 2009 · Viewed 110.3k times · Source

I am trying to split a string in an excel formula, something like I can do in many programming languages, e.g.

string words = "some text".split(' ');

The problem is that I can't be sure that there is more than one word in the cell. If I try to use the FIND() or SEARCH() functions, they return #VALUE if there is not space. Is there any easy way to split the string so that it returns the individual words (or even better, so that it returns either the first word or all the other words)?

Answer

Robert Mearns picture Robert Mearns · Jun 23, 2009

A formula to return either the first word or all the other words.

=IF(ISERROR(FIND(" ",TRIM(A2),1)),TRIM(A2),MID(TRIM(A2),FIND(" ",TRIM(A2),1),LEN(A2)))

Examples and results

Text                  Description                      Results

                      Blank 
                      Space 
some                  Text no space                some
some text             Text with space                  text
 some                 Text with leading space          some
some                  Text with trailing space         some
some text some text   Text with multiple spaces        text some text

Comments on Formula:

  • The TRIM function is used to remove all leading and trailing spaces. Duplicate spacing within the text is also removed.
  • The FIND function then finds the first space
  • If there is no space then the trimmed text is returned
  • Otherwise the MID function is used to return any text after the first space

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