Excel REPLACE Function

REPLACE swaps characters in a text value by starting position and length.

Use it to rewrite fixed-width codes, mask part of an ID, insert a prefix, or update text when the character positions are predictable.

Choose source text This is the string to edit

Choose start and length Positions decide what gets removed

Insert new text The replacement is returned in place

REPLACE syntax & arguments

Syntax

=REPLACE(old_text, start_num, num_chars, new_text)

Required Optional

1

old_text
Required

The original text value, cell reference, or formula result to edit.
2

start_num
Required

The character position where replacement should begin.
3

num_chars
Required

How many characters to remove from old_text starting at start_num.
4

new_text
Required

The text to insert in place of the removed characters.

Example

=REPLACE(A2, 4, 2, "US")

Replace two characters in A2 starting at character 4 with US.

REPLACE caveats

Positions start at 1

start_num of 1 begins at the first character. A start_num less than 1 returns a #VALUE! error.
num_chars controls deletion

num_chars is how many old characters are removed before new_text is inserted.
num_chars can be zero

Use 0 for num_chars when you want to insert new_text without removing any existing characters. Excel inserts it before the character at start_num, so =REPLACE("abcd", 2, 0, "X") returns aXbcd.
REPLACE does not search

Use FIND to calculate a position, or use SUBSTITUTE when matching text should be replaced wherever it appears.

Need delimiter-based edits? Use FIND to calculate start_num when the replacement should begin at a delimiter or marker that can appear in different positions.