Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated April 11, 2020)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021
Harold wonders if there is a limitation of characters in a cell beyond which "Find" will not find a string. He has a lot of text in one cell (22,500 characters) where the string MIMO is near the end, and "Find and Replace" says it's not there. The reason he knew it was there was because he was testing an array formula using the SEARCH function, and it said MIMO was there. Harold thought he had an error in his formula, but he seemed to find this Excel limitation instead.
I wasn't able to find any limitation noted from any Microsoft source, but in testing there is definitely a limitation. I created a string that was just as long as Harold's, and Find and Replace would not find the characters near the end. That got me to wondering where the actual limit occurred.
It appears that the limit is at 8,192 characters. If the string is exactly 8,192 characters long and the last four characters are "MIMO," then Find and Replace can recognize it with no problem. Add one more character to the string (so it is 8,193 characters long), and if "MIMO" is still at the end, Find and Replace won't find it. If the characters are earlier in the string—before the 8,192-character boundary—then Find and Replace finds it, just as you would expect.
The bottom line is that if you are working with very long text strings in a worksheet, you cannot rely on Find and Replace to locate desired text. If you absolutely must work with long text strings, you might consider developing your own VBA routines to do the searching, as VBA doesn't have this built-in limitation.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (9237) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021.
Dive Deep into Macros! Make Excel do things you thought were impossible, discover techniques you won't find anywhere else, and create powerful automated reports. Bill Jelen and Tracy Syrstad help you instantly visualize information to make it actionable. You’ll find step-by-step instructions, real-world case studies, and 50 workbooks packed with examples and solutions. Check out Microsoft Excel 2019 VBA and Macros today!
Finding and replace dates contained within other text in a cell can be a bit tricky. This tip looks at some approaches to ...
Discover MoreIf you use a worksheet that contains dates, you might want to search for those dates at some point. This isn't as simple ...
Discover MoreMacros are great for processing large amounts of data quickly. This tip examines several ways you can remove specific ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
2021-10-12 08:39:45
mh
Thanks for clarifying this issue, which has been bugging us from time to time. This seems rather arbitrary by Microsoft, especially given that the maximum cell character length is at 32,767 characters. Of course, it isn't documented anywhere officially.
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