Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: Determining the Length of a String.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 29, 2020)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003
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:
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here:
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.
Note:
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2299) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Determining the Length of a String.
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