Excel Formulas to Find the Longest String from a Column!!
Tags: excelformula, excelformulas
Published: 2020-12-23 09:48:10

---
title: Excel Formulas to Find the Longest String from a Column!!
published: true
date: 2020-12-23 09:36:28 UTC
tags: ExcelFormula,Excelformulas
canonical_url: https://geekexcel.com/excel-formulas-find-longest-string/
---

In a worksheet, if you want to know which cell contains the longest or shortest characters, how could you do it?

Normally, you may count the number of the text strings in the list one by one and compare them to get the result. But here, I can talk about an easy formula to help you **find the longest text string from a list in Excel**. Get an official version of ** MS Excel**  from the following link: [https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/microsoft-365/excel](https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/microsoft-365/excel)

[![Formulas to find the largest string in a column](https://eadn-wc04-371788.nxedge.io/cdn/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Formulas-to-find-the-largest-string-in-a-column.png)](https://geekexcel.com/excel-formulas-find-longest-string/formulas-to-find-the-largest-string-in-a-column/#main)<figcaption id="caption-attachment-20266">Formulas to find the largest string in a column</figcaption>
## Generic Formula:

- To find the longest string (name, word, etc.) in a column, you can use the below formula.

**=[INDEX](https://geekexcel.com/index-function-in-microsoft-excel-365-how-to-use/)(range,[MATCH](https://geekexcel.com/how-to-use-match-function-in-microsoft-excel-365/)([MAX](https://geekexcel.com/how-to-use-excel-max-function-in-office-365-with-examples/)([LEN](https://geekexcel.com/how-to-use-len-function-in-microsoft-excel-365/)(range)),LEN(range),0)**

## Syntax Explanations:

- **INDEX** – It will help to return the value at a given position in a range or array. Read more on the **[INDEX Function](https://geekexcel.com/index-function-in-microsoft-excel-365-how-to-use/)**.
- **MATCH** -The [**MATCH function**](https://geekexcel.com/how-to-use-match-function-in-microsoft-excel-365/) in Excel helps to locate the position of a lookup value in a row, column, or table.
- **MAX** – This function will help to return the largest numeric value from the range of input values. Read more on the **[MAX Function](https://geekexcel.com/how-to-use-excel-max-function-in-office-365-with-examples/)**.
- **LEN** – In Excel, the **[LEN Function](https://geekexcel.com/how-to-use-len-function-in-microsoft-excel-365/)** will return the length of a given text string as the number of characters.
- **Comma symbol (,)** – It is a separator that helps to separate a list of values.
- **Parenthesis ()** – The main purpose of this symbol is to group the elements.
- **Range** – It represents the input ranges in your worksheet.

## Practical Example:

- Let’s see the below example image.
- Here, we will give the input text in **Column B** and define a name for that range as **Names**.
-  Then, enter the given formula in the formula bar section.
- After that, Press **CTRL** + **SHIFT** + **ENTER**  Keys.
- It will display the result in **Cell D3**.

![Example](https://eadn-wc04-371788.nxedge.io/cdn/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Example-76.png)<figcaption id="caption-attachment-20267">Example</figcaption>

## Closure:

So yeah guys, this is how we **find the largest text string in Excel**. I hope this article is helpful to you. If you have any other **ideas** or **queries,** feel free to share it with us. To learn more, check out **[Geek Excel](https://geekexcel.com/)** and [**Excel Formulas**](https://geekexcel.com/excel-formula/) **!!**

### Related Articles:

- **[Excel Formulas to Find the Largest Number of Two Values!!](https://geekexcel.com/excel-formulas-to-find-the-largest-number-of-two-values/)**
- **[Excel Formulas to Find the Closest Match ~ Simple Guide!!](https://geekexcel.com/excel-formulas-find-closest-match/)**