How to use the REPLACE Function (WS)

Description

The Microsoft Excel REPLACE function replaces a sequence of characters in a string with another set of characters. Please note that the VBA version of the REPLACE function has different syntax.

Syntax

The syntax for the REPLACE function in Microsoft Excel is:

REPLACE( old_text, start, number_of_chars, new_text )

Parameters or Arguments

old_text

The original string value.

start

The position in old_text to begin replacing characters.

number_of_chars

The number of characters to replace in old_text.

new_text

The replacement set of characters.

Applies To

• Excel 2016, Excel 2013, Excel 2011 for Mac, Excel 2010, Excel 2007, Excel 2003, Excel XP, Excel 2000

Type of Function

• Worksheet function (WS)

Example (as Worksheet Function)

Let's look at some Excel REPLACE function examples and explore how to use the REPLACE function as a worksheet function in Microsoft Excel:

Based on the Excel spreadsheet above, the following REPLACE examples would return:

=REPLACE(A1, 1, 5, "Beta")
Result: "Betabet Soup"

=REPLACE(A2, 5, 2, "1234")
Result: "tech1234thenet.com"

=REPLACE("apples", 2, 5, "te")
Result: "ate"