Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Excel in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Finding the First Non-Digit in a Text Value.

Finding the First Non-Digit in a Text Value

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 10, 2025)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Excel in Microsoft 365


2

Tony has a bunch of data in a worksheet that consists of digits and other characters. For instance, he might have a cell that contains "1234567Blue." Tony wants to be able to figure out the character position at which the first non-digit character occurs. In the example of the text "1234567Blue" Tony wants some way to figure out that the first non-digit character is at position 8.

There are two primary ways to get the value you want. The first is to use an array formula to calculate the position. When talking about array formulas, this only has significant meaning if you are using a version of Excel before Excel 2021. In those versions you enter an array formula by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Enter. Starting with Excel 2021, Microsoft introduced dynamic arrays, which did away with array formulas and the need to press Ctrl+Shift+Enter.

The following array formula will work in the majority of cases that Tony may encounter:

=MATCH(TRUE,ISERROR(VALUE(MID(A1,ROW(INDIRECT("1:"&LEN(A1))),1))),0)

The only instances where this array formula won't work is if cell A1 is either empty or contains a strictly numeric value. If your list may contain this type of data (or no data at all), then you should consider using a slightly longer array formula:

=IF(LEN(A1)=0,0,MIN(IF(1*ISNUMBER(1*MID(A1,ROW(INDIRECT("A1:A"&
LEN(A1))),1))=0,ROW(INDIRECT("A1:A"&LEN(A1))),LEN(A1)+1)))*
(ISNUMBER(A1)=FALSE)

Remember that that is a single array formula. It will properly handle instances where A1 contains no non-digit characters (as in a blank cell or a value such as "123").

Another possible array formula that should return the desired position is the following. This one should handle empty cells and strictly numeric values just fine, but it is shorter than the previously presented formula:

=IFERROR(MATCH(1,ISERR(MID(A1,ROW(INDIRECT("1:"&LEN(A1))),1)*1)*1,),)

Of course, the other way you can handle finding out the position of the first non-digit character is to create a user-defined function. There are many different ways that such a macro can be implemented. One of the easiest ways to implement the macro is to simply step through each character in whatever is passed to the macro. When a character is found that is outside the ASCII code range for digits (48 to 57), then you know you've found the first position. The following macro shows a way to do this type of technique:

Function FirstNonDigit(str As String)
    Dim iChar As Integer
    Dim iPos As Integer
    Dim J As Integer

    Application.Volatile
    iPos = 0
    For J = 1 To Len(str)
        iChar = Asc(Mid(str, J, 1))
        If iChar <= 47 Or iChar >= 58 Then
            iPos = J
            Exit For
        End If
    Next J
    FirstNonDigit = iPos
End Function

To use the function, simply use a formula such as this in your worksheet:

=FirstNonDigit(A1)

If the cell you reference is empty or if it only contains digits, then the function returns a 0 value.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the ExcelTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (10610) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Finding the First Non-Digit in a Text Value.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

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What is three less than 3?

2021-09-21 15:21:10

Chris

Here's one, how do you find the first number from the end of a string?
Example:
5.552A.P
7.1156A
8.345.P


2020-11-21 12:12:49

Willy Vanhaelen

Here is my version of the function and a lot smaller and very efficient too:

Function FirstNonDigit(str As String)
If str Like String(Len(str), "#") Then Exit Function
For FirstNonDigit = 1 To Len(str)
If Not Mid(str, FirstNonDigit, 1) Like "#" Then Exit For
Next
End Function

I use rather unusual techniques as
    If str Like String(Len(str), "#") Then Exit Function
which tests if the cell is empty or numeric and if so quits.


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