Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 27, 2022)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365
Karen has a large number of cells that have a tilde character (~) at the beginning of the cells. She would like to change the tilde to a different character (such as an @ sign), but only if the tilde is at the beginning of the cell. She's not sure how to perform this task using Find and Replace.
Excel's Find and Replace would be a good choice if you wanted to replace all tildes in your text. In that case, you would simply search for ~~ (note that this is two tildes in a row) and replace with @. However, since you want to replace just a tilde appearing in the first character position, Find and Replace won't do it for you. There are two ways you can approach the problem.
The first method is to use a formula to remove the tilde. There are many variations on such a formula, with the following being one example:
=IF(LEFT(A1,1)="~","@" & MID(A1,2,LEN(A1)),A1)
You can copy the formula down as many cells as you need, then copy the results and use Paste Special to paste the values back into the original column.
The other option is to use a macro to do the replacement. The following is a good example of a short macro to do the trick:
Sub ReplaceTilde()
Dim c As Range
For Each c In Selection
If Left(c, 1) = "~" Then
c.Value = "@" & Right(c, Len(c) - 1)
End If
Next
End Sub
To use the macro, simply select the cells you want to change and then run it. Each cell in the selection is evaluated and, if appropriate, modified.
Note:
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (13419) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365.
Professional Development Guidance! Four world-class developers offer start-to-finish guidance for building powerful, robust, and secure applications with Excel. The authors show how to consistently make the right design decisions and make the most of Excel's powerful features. Check out Professional Excel Development today!
Want to make instances of a given word or phrase bold throughout a worksheet? Here's a way you can make the change quickly.
Discover MoreExcel provides some great tools for finding information in a worksheet or a workbook. Changing the default settings used ...
Discover MoreWant to use Find and Replace to change the formatting of a cell's contents? You would be out of luck; Excel won't let you ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)
Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Comments