BeginnerText Functions
Split a full name with LEFT and FIND
Pull the first name out of a single full-name column.
LEFT · FIND
7 min15 points
FIND
Returns the position of one text value inside another. Case-sensitive.
Syntax
FIND(find_text, within_text, [start_num])
Text Functions.
A worked example
=FIND(" ",A2)
Returns 7
Returns the position of the first space in Marcus Bell.
Where it goes wrong
FIND is case-sensitive and returns #VALUE! rather than 0 when the text is absent, so it needs wrapping if a miss is expected.
Consider instead: SEARCH, when casing should not matter or you need wildcards.
Practise FIND
Knowing what a function does and being able to write it from memory are different skills. These close the gap.