Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 28, 2022)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365
Shivram needs to count the number of times each letter of the alphabet occurs in a text string. For instance, if a cell contains the text "University of California at Santa Clara," he needs to know how many times the letter A is in the string, how many times the letter B, all the way to Z. He wonders what formula would he should use to do this.
One easy way to do this is to rely on the SUBSTITUTE function in your formula. You can use the function to remove whatever letter you are looking for from the text, and then compare the "before" and "after" lengths of the text.
Let's start by assuming you have the letters A through Z in the range A2:A27. In cell B1 you would put the text you want to analyze ("University of California at Santa Clara") and in cell B2 you would put this formula:
=LEN(UPPER(B$1))-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(UPPER(B$1),UPPER($A2),""))
Copy the formula down in the remaining cells (B3:B27), and it represents the count of each letter that appears in the text in B1. You can, if you desire, put additional text strings to analyze in row 1, and then copy the range B2:B27 to the columns just below those other text strings.
Note that this formula makes no differentiation between uppercase and lowercase letters. In other words, the letter "A" in column A will match both "A" and "a" in the text in row 1. If you want the formula to be case sensitive, you would remove the UPPER function from the formula, thusly:
=LEN(B$1)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(B$1,$A2,""))
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2985) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365.
Excel Smarts for Beginners! Featuring the friendly and trusted For Dummies style, this popular guide shows beginners how to get up and running with Excel while also helping more experienced users get comfortable with the newest features. Check out Excel 2019 For Dummies today!
Hate to take your hands off the keyboard while working on a worksheet? Here's one way to activate the Formula Bar without ...
Discover MoreGiven a range of cells, you may at some time want to calculate the sum of only the largest values in that range. Here is ...
Discover MoreIt's easy to use filtering to hide rows based on the value in a cell, but how do you hide rows based on the values in two ...
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