SUBSTITUTE and REPLACE in Excel - Step-by-Step Guide

Introduction

These two functions help you change text inside a cell. SUBSTITUTE replaces specific text you choose, while REPLACE changes text based on position. They solve the problem of fixing or updating parts of text without rewriting everything.

When you want to change all occurrences of a word in a list of product names.

When you need to fix a typo that appears multiple times in a text column.

When you want to replace a part of a phone number or code based on its position.

When you want to update a date format by replacing characters at certain positions.

When you want to remove or change a specific word inside a sentence without affecting others.

Steps

Step 1: Click

- cell where you want the result

The cell is selected and ready for typing a formula

Step 2: Type

- formula bar

You start entering the formula

💡 Start with =SUBSTITUTE( or =REPLACE( to see the function help

Step 3: For SUBSTITUTE, type

- formula bar

Formula looks like =SUBSTITUTE(text, old_text, new_text, [instance_num])

💡 Text is the cell with original text, old_text is what to replace, new_text is replacement, instance_num is optional to replace only one occurrence

Step 4: For REPLACE, type

- formula bar

Formula looks like =REPLACE(old_text, start_num, num_chars, new_text)

💡 old_text is original text, start_num is position to start replacing, num_chars is how many characters to replace, new_text is replacement text

Step 5: Press Enter

- formula bar

The cell shows the text with replacements applied

Step 6: Copy the formula down

- cells below

All rows update with replaced text based on each row's original text

Before vs After

Before

Cell A2 contains 'apple banana apple', cell A3 contains '1234567890'

After

Using =SUBSTITUTE(A2, "apple", "orange") shows 'orange banana orange' in B2; Using =REPLACE(A3, 4, 3, "XYZ") shows '123XYZ7890' in B3

Settings Reference

old_text

📍 Inside SUBSTITUTE formula

Text you want to replace

Default: Required

new_text

📍 Inside SUBSTITUTE or REPLACE formula

Text to replace with

Default: Required

instance_num

📍 Inside SUBSTITUTE formula

Which occurrence of old_text to replace

Default: All occurrences replaced if omitted

start_num

📍 Inside REPLACE formula

Position in text to start replacing

Default: Required

num_chars

📍 Inside REPLACE formula

How many characters to replace

Default: Required

Common Mistakes

Using REPLACE when you want to replace text by matching words

REPLACE works by position, so it may replace wrong characters if text length changes

Use SUBSTITUTE to replace specific words or text strings

Omitting instance_num in SUBSTITUTE when only one occurrence should change

All occurrences get replaced, which may not be desired

Specify the instance_num argument to replace only the needed occurrence

Using wrong start_num or num_chars in REPLACE causing unexpected text changes

Positions are counted from left, so wrong numbers replace wrong parts

Count characters carefully and test with sample text before applying

Summary

SUBSTITUTE replaces specific text by matching words or phrases.

REPLACE changes text based on position and length inside the string.

Use SUBSTITUTE for word-based changes and REPLACE for position-based edits.