WEEK 1 — TEXT FUNCTIONS

The focus this week was on using Excel functions to manipulate and clean text data. We looked at a lot of different functions. This handy quick
reference guide includes all functions we looked at, useful keyboard shortcuts and some other functions worth investigating.

TEXT FUNCTIONS AND OPERATORS FORMULA TIPS SHORTCUTS

• Start with =
CONCATENATE(text1, text2, …) Joins two or more text strings into one string • Function name always Ctrl+C ⌘+C Copy
followed by bracket
Ctrl+V ⌘+V Paste
& e.g. =A!&A2&A3 Joins two or more text strings into one string • Close all brackets
Ctrl+S ⌘+S Save
• Comma separate
Combines the text from multiple ranges and/or arguments Ctrl+Z ⌘+Z Undo
CONCAT(text1, [text2],…)
strings • Text goes in "quotes" Ctrl+Y ⌘+Y Redo
TEXTJOIN(delimiter, ignore_empty, Combines text from multiple ranges and/or strings, • Nest multiple functions Ctrl+N ⌘+N New
text1, [text2], …) and includes the option to specify a delimiter =UPPER(CONCAT("Hi ", Ctrl+O ⌘+O Open
Returns a specified number of characters from the B2))
LEFT(text, num_chars)
left of a text string. BONUS CONTENT
Returns a specified number of characters from the
RIGHT(text, num_chars) SEARCH - returns the location of one text string
right of a text string.
inside another. Unlike FIND, SEARCH allows
Returns a specified number of characters from the wildcards, and is not case-sensitive. Syntax:
MID(text, start_num, num_chars)
middle of a text string. =SEARCH (find_text, within_text, [start_num])
FIND(find_text, within_text, [start_num], Returns the starting position of one text string within
[NotFound]) another text string, (is case sensitive) REPLACE - replaces part of a text string, based on
the number of characters you specify, with a
LEN(text) Returns the number of characters in a text string different text string. Syntax: =REPLACE(old_text,
start_num, num_chars, new_text)
Change case to uppercase, lowercase and proper
UPPER(text), LOWER(text), PROPER(text) You may also want to investigate: CODE, UNICODE,
case
CHAR and UNICHAR
Removes the first 32 nonprinting characters in the 7-
CLEAN(text)
bit ASCII code Text to Columns
Removes all spaces from text except for single You can take the text in one or more
TRIM(text)
spaces between words cells, and split it into multiple cells using
SUBSTITUTE(text, old_text, new_text, Substitutes new_text for old_text in a text string (is the Convert Text to Columns Wizard
[instance_num]) case sensitive)

Course 1 Quick Reference Guide