Find longest or shortest text string in a column or row
To look for the longest or shortest text string in a column or row in Excel, you can use the INDEX, MATCH, LEN and MAX or MIN functions together.
How to find the longest or shortest string in a column or row in Excel?
To quickly find the longest or shortest name listed in the name range above, an INDEX, MATCH and LEN formula that incorporates the MAX or MIN function will help you in this way: The MAX or MIN function will retrieve the largest or smallest value in the range of string lengths provided by the LEN function. Then MATCH will locate the position of the largest or smallest value and INDEX will retrieve the value at the corresponding position.
Generic syntax
Find longest string: =INDEX(range,MATCH(MAX(LEN(range)),LEN(range),0))
Find shortest string: =INDEX(range,MATCH(MIN(LEN(range)),LEN(range),0))
√ Note: These are array formulas that require you to enter with Ctrl + Shift + Enter.
- range: The range where you want the combination formula to return the longest or shortest string from.
To find the longest or shortest name, please copy or enter the formulas below in the cell F5 or F6, and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to get the results:
Find longest name (cell H5):
=INDEX(B5:B11,MATCH(MAX(LEN(B5:B11)),LEN(B5:B11),0))
Find shortest name (cell H6):
=INDEX(B5:B11,MATCH(MIN(LEN(B5:B11)),LEN(B5:B11),0))
Explanation of the formula
Here we use the formula below as an example:
=INDEX(B5:B11,MATCH(MAX(LEN(B5:B11)),LEN(B5:B11),0))
- LEN(B5:B11): The LEN function returns an array of the lengths of each name in B5:B11 like this: {5;5;6;3;4;8;5}.
- MAX(LEN(B5:B11)) = MAX({5;5;6;3;4;8;5}): The MAX function then returns the largest value of the array {5;5;6;3;4;8;5}, which is 8.
- MATCH(MAX(LEN(B5:B11)),LEN(B5:B11),0) = MATCH(8,{5;5;6;3;4;8;5},0): The match_type 0 forces the MATCH function to find the position of the exact number 8 in the array {5;5;6;3;4;8;5}. So, it returns 6 since the number is at the 6th position.
- INDEX(B5:B11,MATCH(MAX(LEN(B5:B11)),LEN(B5:B11),0)) = INDEX(B5:B11,6): The INDEX function returns the 6th value in the name range B5:B11, which is Samantha.
Related functions
The Excel INDEX function returns the displayed value based on a given position from a range or an array.
The Excel MATCH function searches for a specific value in a range of cells, and returns the relative position of the value.
The LEN function returns the number of characters in a text string.
Related Formulas
Find longest text string with criteria
In this tutorial, we will talk about how to look for the longest text string in a column or row with criteria in Excel with the help of INDEX, MATCH, LEN and MAX functions.
Approximate match with INDEX and MATCH
There are times when we need to find approximate matches in Excel to evaluate employees' performance, grade students’ scores, calculate postage based on weight, etc. In this tutorial, we will talk about how to use the INDEX and MATCH functions to retrieve the results we need.
Lookup closest match value with multiple criteria
In some cases, you may need to lookup the closest or approximate match value based on more than one criteria. With the combination of INDEX, MATCH and IF functions, you can quickly get it done in Excel.
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