Determining the Length of a String

Summary: Macros are great a working with strings, and one of the most commonly used string functions is Len. This tip explains how to use this function to determine how many characters a string contains. (This tip works with Microsoft Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, Excel 2003, and Excel 2007.)

It is hard to imagine a function used more often with strings than the Len function. This simple little function returns the length of any string. The following are a few examples:

A = Len(MyString)
B = Len("This is a test")

The first line returns the length of the characters in the variable MyString. The second returns the number of characters between the quote marks (in this case, 14—remember that spaces count as characters).

If you want to determine the length of the information in a particular cell, you follow a bit different approach:

C = Len(ActiveSheet.Range(ActiveWindow.Selection.Address))

When this line is executed, it returns the length of whatever is in the currently selected cell.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2299) applies to Microsoft Excel versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

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Determining the Length of a String