Find the Position of Second or Third Specified Character Within a String!!
Tags: excelpreface, positionofspecifiedc, excelbasics, exceltutorials
Published: 2021-01-18 04:00:41

---
title: Find the Position of Second or Third Specified Character Within a String!!
published: true
date: 2021-01-11 04:37:28 UTC
tags: ExcelPreface,positionofspecifiedc,ExcelBasics,ExcelTutorials
canonical_url: https://geekexcel.com/find-position-second-or-third-specified-character-within-string/
---

So far we have learned the simple steps to split the text string by a specified character in Excel. Here, we will guide you on how to **get the position of the second or third specified character** in a text. Let’s see them below!! 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 and Explanations:**

To locate the position of the second or third of the specified character within a text string, you need to use the **[FIND function](https://geekexcel.com/how-to-use-find-function-in-microsoft-excel-365/)** along with the **[SUBSTITUTE function](https://geekexcel.com/how-to-use-substitute-function-in-microsoft-excel-2013/)**.

Get the Second Special Character Position:

**=[FIND](https://geekexcel.com/how-to-use-find-function-in-microsoft-excel-365/)(“@”,[SUBSTITUTE](https://geekexcel.com/how-to-use-substitute-function-in-microsoft-excel-2013/)(B1,”-“,”@”,2))**

Get the Third Special Character Position:

**=[FIND](https://geekexcel.com/how-to-use-find-function-in-microsoft-excel-365/)(“@”,[SUBSTITUTE](https://geekexcel.com/how-to-use-substitute-function-in-microsoft-excel-2013/)(B1,”-“,”@”,3))**

### Syntax Explanation:

- **FIND** – In Excel, the **[FIND function](https://geekexcel.com/how-to-use-find-function-in-microsoft-excel-365/)** will help to find out the one text string inside the other.
- **SUBSTITUTE** – It can replace existing text with new text in a text string when you want to replace text based on its content, not position. For more about the **[SUBSTITUTE function](https://geekexcel.com/how-to-use-substitute-function-in-microsoft-excel-2013/)**.

## Steps to find the position of the second special character:

- Refer to the below example image.
- First, we will give the input text in **[Column](https://geekexcel.com/excel-office-365-columns/) B**.

![Input Values](https://eadn-wc04-371788.nxedge.io/cdn/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Input-Values.png)<figcaption id="caption-attachment-20797">Input Values</figcaption>

- Suppose you need to get the position of the second dash character “-” in **Cell B3** , you need to use the above formula.

![Enter the formula](https://eadn-wc04-371788.nxedge.io/cdn/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Enter-the-formula-2.png)<figcaption id="caption-attachment-20798">Enter the formula</figcaption>

- In the formula, the **SUBSTITUTE function** helps to replace the second character with the new character “@” in the **[cell](https://geekexcel.com/excel-cells-options/)**.
- Then, the **FIND function** will search the specified character @ in the returned result of the substitute function.
- Finally, it will count the position of the second specified character from the cell and return to the selected cell.

![Result](https://eadn-wc04-371788.nxedge.io/cdn/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Result-10.png)<figcaption id="caption-attachment-20799">Result</figcaption>

## Steps to get the position of third special character:

- In case you want to get the position of the third special character in **cell B4,** then you can do the same steps by replacing the number 2 to 3 in the given formula.

![Example 2](https://eadn-wc04-371788.nxedge.io/cdn/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Example-2-1.png)<figcaption id="caption-attachment-20800">Example 2</figcaption>

## Wrap-Up:

From this tutorial, we have described the simple steps to **find the position of the second or third specified character within the text in Excel**. Please share your **query** below in the **comment** box. We will assist you. To learn more, check out **[Geek Excel](https://geekexcel.com/)**.

### Read Also:

- [**Excel Formulas to Find the Position of Nth Matching Value!!**](https://geekexcel.com/excel-formulas-to-find-position-of-nth-matching-value/)
- [**How to Use Excel MID Function in Office 365? – [with Examples]**](https://geekexcel.com/how-to-use-mid-function-in-microsoft-excel-365/)