Substitute functions are used in place of traditional Excel functions, however, they are used in a particular way to efficiently perform the assigned action. Still, you are wondering, how substitute functions can improve your work, you have it all put together here for you. Discover the benefit of this function as we go in this piece.
What is Substitute function in Excel
The substitute function is used to replace or substitute a text with another text in a given cell. The substitute function is one of the many functions you can perform. Substitute functions can only replace a text in a string and cannot change the position.
Syntax
The syntax of the substitute function clearly tells you it has something to do with replacements.
The syntax is SUBSTITUTE(text, old_text, new_text, [instance_num])
The first three parts of the syntax are compulsory while the last part is optional.
Text: It is the original text in which you want to substitute characters. It can be supplied individually into the string or as a result of another formula.
Old_text: This part of the syntax shows the character you want to replace.
New_text: This is the character you want to use to replace the old_text.
Instance_num: If the occurrence of the new text is omitted, every occurrence of the old text will be changed to the new text.
How to Use the Excel Substitutes (Step By Step)
We will be looking at how to use Excel substitutes using a step-wise approach. This will help us to understand more and be more articulated. Knowing how to use Excel substitutes will help you to save time while working and also help you to be fast. Let’s get right into it.
1.Open the Excel package on your PC: You can’t form cells on a Word application and hope that you can carry out Excel commands, you have to use the appropriate software which is Excel.
2.Fill in your data: Fill in the data you want to work with, most times, a substitute is needed for the sake of corrections. However, for this tutorial, let’s assume we are filling in data that needs to be corrected.
3.Fill the formula in the formula bar: You need to fill in the formula bar because that’s where the control command of the cells is. The formula bar will let you select the right cell and whatever you want to change among the characters of your data.
4.Press enter: Pressing enter puts the command into effect. After carefully checking the formula and it’s correct, you can put the formula into effect by pressing enter. If you don’t fill in the right formula, the Excel algorithm won’t implement the wrong formula because it is not a registered formula.
Tips for using the substitute function in Excel
There are some things you need to be very careful about while using the substitute function in Excel, not knowing these things could lead to frustration because the command won’t work and then you might get bothered about what is happening. Take note of the following:
1.The substitute function is case-sensitive: The substitute function being case-sensitive means it sees characters in small letters and capital letters as two different two things. For example, BASE is different from base just as BaSE is different from bASE. Just be very careful of this mistake, Whatever you fill in as data just make sure the corresponding and proper command is what you fill in the formula bar so you can have the desired result.
2.The substitute function doesn’t accept wildcard characters: There are some characters that the substitute function doesn’t work with, they are called wildcard characters. They are “*” (asterisk), “?” (question mark), and “~” (tilde). Take note of these characters and ensure you don’t use them in your command. If they are present in your command, remove them so that you can work quickly.
How to Edit Your Excel Files For Free?
WPS Office is an office package that has a clear distinction from other office applications because of its unique features. WPS Office is free to use regardless of what you are working on, be it Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or PDF. To edit your Excel files, WPS Office makes it easier, you can easily perform all of these tasks on WPS Office. WPS Office also has very good cross-platform compatibility which means you can work across different platforms with WPS Office. In fact, WPS Office is compatible with Microsoft Word, and WPS Office is compatible with PDF. The latest from WPS is AI integration. The WPS team is working endlessly to make sure AI is integrated into the Office application. This will be a revolution in the world of Office packages, so you don’t want to miss out.
WPS is a free all-in-one software, it has a Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF package embedded in its application. This makes WPS Office a very easy app to navigate for its users, you don’t have to download multiple packages for your office work since you have an all-in-one package with WPS Office. WPS Office also has a lot of free templates to aid your office work. The templates are well-designed and editable.
Pros of WPS Office:
Free download and free-to-use Word, Excel, and PPT. Powerful PDF toolkit.
Rich template store: The beautiful templates in WPS Office have been mentioned above, WPS basically makes work easier for you.
Lightweight: The WPS Office software package is not as heavy as other office software. WPS Office is an all-in-one app yet it is lightweight, you get to do things faster, and easier and still worry less about space management on your device.
Support online documents: You can also open online documents using WPS Office.
Safe and stable: When downloading WPS Office, you don’t have to worry about viruses or the security of your device, WPS Office is authentic and secure.
How to download WPS Office?
After telling you of the benefits of WPS Office, I’m sure you want to discover how to download WPS Office, let me walk you through it.
Visit the official website here.
Click the download button.
The installer gets downloaded and opened in a folder.
Then click on it to install.
FAQs
1.Which Excel Substitutes are Best for Large Datasets?
For very large datasets, Excel is limited because it has a limited number of rows and columns. However, for normal office work, Excel will suffice. In a situation where Excel can’t do the job, Python Panda can do the work. Gigasheet is also an alternative. The only problem is that to use any of the just-mentioned software, you need to know about programming. This is where there could be problems but, those are the alternatives for large datasets that Excel can’t work on.
2.Can I access Excel Substitutes offline?
Yes, Excel substitutes can be accessed online, only that you will need to connect to the internet to open your spreadsheet and also sync your progress. This makes it better but it is nice to connect to the internet while working so that you won’t lose any progress.
3.What is a better alternative to Excel?
There are many alternatives to Excel but remember I have given you one already, WPS Office. Have this in mind as the best alternative, it makes work easy for you. There are also other alternatives like Zoho Sheets, Microsoft Office Excel Online, LibreOffice Calc, Apache Open Office Calc, and Google Sheets
4.How Do I Share and Export data from Excel substitutes?
You have to download the file where the spreadsheet is represented, modify it, and correct it in the spreadsheet you are working on.
Summary
Working with Excel substitutes makes things easy for you because you don’t have to start filling or correcting mistakes manually. As technology advances, life gets better, such as the introduction of Excel substitutes. Make sure you don’t make any of the probable mistakes mentioned above so you can have a smooth sailing while working. Looking at every condition that makes work easy and fast for you, WPS Office is an application you should definitely have. This is because of its cross-platform compatibility and all-in-one interface.
WPS Office is an application you should have, I trust that you want work to be easy for yourself and WPS Office is all out to make that happen. AI integration is another thing that would make you want to love WPS Office. This is because we all know that the feature is Artificial Intelligence and that is evident in the rise of Chat GPT, Google Bard, Microsoft Bing, and many other AI assistants.
Having mastery of Excel and WPS Office ensures that you have a very good time carrying out your daily and official tasks. It is safe to say that work has been made easy for you through this article. Go ahead and enjoy work. See you later!!!
