FIND and SEARCH in Google Sheets - Cheat Sheet & Quick Revision

Recall & Review

beginner

What does the FIND function do in Google Sheets?

FIND looks for a specific text inside another text and tells you the position where it starts. It is case-sensitive, so it treats uppercase and lowercase letters differently.

beginner

How is SEARCH different from FIND in Google Sheets?

SEARCH also finds the position of text inside another text but is not case-sensitive. It means it treats uppercase and lowercase letters the same.

beginner

What happens if FIND or SEARCH does not find the text?

Both FIND and SEARCH will give an error (#VALUE!) if the text you are looking for is not found in the cell.

beginner

Write the formula to find the position of "cat" in cell A1 using FIND.

The formula is =FIND("cat", A1). It will return the starting position of "cat" in the text inside A1, considering case.

beginner

Why would you use SEARCH instead of FIND?

Use SEARCH when you want to find text without worrying about uppercase or lowercase letters. For example, SEARCH("cat", A1) finds "Cat", "CAT", or "cat".

Which function is case-sensitive when searching text in Google Sheets?

A FIND

B SEARCH

C BOTH FIND and SEARCH

D NEITHER FIND nor SEARCH

FIND is case-sensitive, meaning it distinguishes between uppercase and lowercase letters.

What result do FIND and SEARCH return if the text is not found?

A 0

B Empty cell

C #VALUE! error

D -1

Both functions return a #VALUE! error if the text is not found.

Which function would find "apple" in "Apple pie" regardless of case?

A SEARCH

B FIND

C Both FIND and SEARCH

D Neither FIND nor SEARCH

SEARCH ignores case, so it finds "apple" in "Apple pie".

What does =FIND("dog", "My Dog") return?

A 1

B 3

C 4

D #VALUE! error

FIND is case-sensitive and "dog" (lowercase) is not found in "My Dog" (uppercase D), so it returns an error.

How do you specify where to start searching in FIND or SEARCH?

A By changing the first argument

B By adding a third number argument for start position

C By using a different function

D You cannot specify start position

Both FIND and SEARCH accept an optional third argument to set the starting position for the search.

Explain how FIND and SEARCH work and when to use each in Google Sheets.

Think about case sensitivity and error results.

Describe how to handle errors when using FIND or SEARCH in a formula.

Consider how to avoid showing errors to users.