FIND Function (LibreOffice Calc)

• Returns the position of a substring within a string
• Searches from left to right
• Is case‑sensitive
• Does not support wildcards
• Returns an error if the substring is not found

It is designed to be precise, predictable, and ideal for structured text parsing.

FIND(find_text; within_text; [start])

Arguments

• find_text:
  The text to search for.

• within_text:
  The text to search inside.

• start: (optional)
  The position to begin searching (1‑based).
  Defaults to 1.

Find the position of “e” in “Hello”

=FIND("e"; "Hello")

Returns 2.

Find “lo” in “Hello”

=FIND("lo"; "Hello")

Returns 4.

Case-sensitive search

=FIND("h"; "Hello")

Returns #VALUE! because “h” ≠ “H”.

Start searching from position 3

=FIND("l"; "Hello"; 3)

Returns 3.

Find a delimiter

=FIND("-"; A1)

Extract text before a delimiter

=LEFT(A1; FIND("-"; A1) - 1)

Extract text after a delimiter

=RIGHT(A1; LEN(A1) - FIND("-"; A1))

Extract middle text between two delimiters

=MID(A1; FIND("-"; A1) + 1; FIND("-"; A1; FIND("-"; A1) + 1) - FIND("-"; A1) - 1)

Find the position of the Nth occurrence of a character

=FIND("☼"; SUBSTITUTE(A1; "-"; "☼"; 3))

(Finds the 3rd dash.)

Find the last occurrence of a character

=FIND("☼"; SUBSTITUTE(A1; "-"; "☼"; LEN(A1)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(A1; "-"; ""))))

Validate that a delimiter exists

=IF(ISERROR(FIND("-"; A1)); "Missing"; "OK")

Extract file extension

=RIGHT(A1; LEN(A1) - FIND("."; A1))

Extract first name from “First Last”

=LEFT(A1; FIND(" "; A1) - 1)

Extract last name

=RIGHT(A1; LEN(A1) - FIND(" "; A1))

FIND is case-sensitive

=FIND("a"; "Apple") → #VALUE!  
=FIND("A"; "Apple") → 1

FIND does not support wildcards

Use SEARCH for wildcard support.

FIND returns #VALUE! if not found

=FIND("x"; "Hello") → #VALUE!

start < 1 → Err:502

=FIND("e"; "Hello"; 0)

start > text length → #VALUE!

=FIND("e"; "Hello"; 10)

FIND works with numbers (converted to text)

=FIND("2"; 2024) → 2

FIND respects Unicode characters

Positions count Unicode code points.

FIND returns first match only

No built‑in “find all” capability.

• Use FIND for precise, case‑sensitive parsing
• Combine with LEFT/RIGHT/MID for extraction
• Use SUBSTITUTE to target specific occurrences
• Use TRIM to normalize text before searching
• Use SEARCH when case‑insensitivity is required

• Use SEARCH for case‑insensitive search
• Use LEFT, RIGHT, MID for extraction
• Use LEN to measure string length
• Use SUBSTITUTE to target specific occurrences
• Use TRIM and CLEAN to normalize text

By mastering FIND and its companion functions, you can build precise, flexible, and robust text‑processing workflows in LibreOffice Calc.