CHAR in WPS Spreadsheet: Create Characters from Documented Codes

• Introduced: documented by 2019-05-20 in the official WPS lesson; original introduction is not established.
• Availability: WPS Office for Windows Personal; numeric release not identified in the lesson. This is documentation evidence, not an installed-build guarantee.
• Scope: the exact supported build range is unverified. The cited Windows lesson does not establish equivalent availability in other WPS clients.
• Checked: October 14, 2026 against the function-specific lesson and vendor catalogue. Examples were independently calculated; no new native WPS test was performed.

=CHAR(number)

The official WPS Windows Personal lesson specifies a number from 1 through 255 and says that the character comes from the current computer’s character set. Use whole-number codes in that documented range for the examples.

The lesson explicitly identifies uppercase A–Z with codes 65–90 and lowercase a–z with codes 97–122. The examples stay within those basic letter ranges rather than assuming the same extended character mapping across every platform and language setting.

Enter A1:A7:

In B2 enter and fill down:

=CHAR(A2)

Expected B2:B7: A, B, Z, a, b, z.

Codes 65 and 97 produce different cases of the letter a. Formatting a cell’s font is separate from changing the character returned by the formula.

Suppose C2:C5 contains sequence numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4. In D2 enter and fill down:

=CHAR(64+C2)

Expected D2:D5: A, B, C, D. Adding 64 maps one to code 65, the start of the documented uppercase alphabet range.

This rule is designed for numbers 1–26. It is not a complete spreadsheet-column naming function. After Z, spreadsheet columns continue AA, AB and so on; incrementing a single character code does not implement that system.

With 3 in C2:

="Zone "&CHAR(64+C2)

Expected result: Zone C. The ampersand joins the fixed label and generated character. The result is text, which is useful for a display label but should not replace the numeric sequence used for sorting or calculations.

To generate a lowercase label for the same sequence:

="zone-"&CHAR(96+C2)

Expected result: zone-c. Here 96 is the offset that maps sequence number one to lowercase a at code 97.

If C2 comes from an import, validate that it is a whole number between 1 and 26 before using the alphabet rule. A helper status can use the already documented IF, AND and MOD functions:

=IF(AND(C2>=1,C2<=26,MOD(C2,1)=0),CHAR(64+C2),"Review index")

For numeric inputs 1, 26, 27, 0 and 2.5, expected results are A, Z, Review index, Review index and Review index.

This guard assumes C2 is numeric. A text import or an existing error needs its own validation policy. Keeping invalid values visible is safer than wrapping every problem in an empty string and silently losing labels.

For basic letters, CODE goes in the opposite direction:

=CODE(CHAR(65))
=CHAR(CODE("B"))

Expected results: 65 and B. These checks use a single basic character. They do not establish that arbitrary multilingual text can be round-tripped through a one-byte code function without loss.

A nonprinting character may not look like a visible glyph in a cell. Do not conclude that CHAR failed merely because the output is not a letter. Check the code and the purpose of the character before formatting the cell or replacing it.

Extended codes can depend on the environment. If a workbook relies on symbols outside the basic letter range, verify them on the actual recipient’s platform and installed WPS version. Prefer literal approved symbols or an independently verified Unicode-aware function when exact international character identity matters.

Out-of-range inputs are outside the documented 1–255 domain. This guide does not infer a WPS-specific error code for every invalid input or assume fractional-code coercion. Test boundary cases in the target application before expanding a production formula beyond the examples shown here.

• Official WPS CHAR lesson, published 2019-05-20 (Chinese; Windows Personal scope).
• WPS CHAR documentation catalogue.

The lesson establishes the function-specific behavior discussed here. The catalogue confirms its listed identity, not an exact current build range. Expected outputs use original examples checked independently; native execution and broader client compatibility remain unverified.