Free SUBSTITUTE Formula Generator — Find & Replace Text in Excel

Substitutes new text for old text in a text string. Great for data cleaning.

Generated Formula
=SUBSTITUTE(text, "old", "new")

Learning Resources

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Common Errors & Fixes

  • SUBSTITUTE is not changing anything

    Causes:
    • old_text does not match due to case sensitivity or extra spaces.
    • old_text may have leading/trailing spaces that are not visible.
    Fixes:
    • Use TRIM(A1) on the source cell to remove extra spaces.
    • Double-check exact spelling and case of old_text.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is SUBSTITUTE case-sensitive?

Yes, SUBSTITUTE is case-sensitive. "apple" will not match "Apple". For case-insensitive replacement, use REPLACE with UPPER/LOWER.

Can I replace only the first occurrence?

Yes, add a fourth argument (instance_num) to specify which occurrence. Omit it to replace all occurrences.

What is the difference between SUBSTITUTE and REPLACE?

SUBSTITUTE replaces specific text wherever it appears. REPLACE replaces text at a specific starting position with a given length.

Related Formulas

CONCATENATETRIMUPPERLOWERPROPER

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