How to Use the UNICODE Function in Excel

Unicode is a global encoding standard that assigns a unique code point to every character in various writing systems. In Excel and Google Sheets, this standard allows users to manipulate and display text in multiple languages and symbols through specific formulas and functions.

Inserting Unicode Characters

To insert a Unicode character in Excel or Google Sheets, utilize the CHAR function. The syntax for this function is:

=CHAR(number)

Here, “number” refers to the Unicode value of the desired character. For instance, to insert a heart symbol (❤), the formula would be:

=CHAR(10084)

Counting Unicode Characters

In situations where you need to count the number of Unicode characters within a cell, combine the LEN and SUBSTITUTE functions. The SUBSTITUTE function is used to eliminate all non-Unicode characters from a text string, thereby facilitating an accurate unicode character count. For example:

=LEN(cell)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(cell,CHAR(1),""))

Replacing Unicode Characters

To exchange specific Unicode characters within a text string for other characters, employ the SUBSTITUTE function. For example, to replace all instances of the Greek letter Delta (Δ) with an uppercase “D”, use:

=SUBSTITUTE(cell,CHAR(916),"D")

Filtering Data with Unicode Characters

To filter a dataset based on specific Unicode characters in Google Sheets, the FILTER function proves useful. To display rows containing the checkmark symbol (✔️) in a specific column, apply the following formula:

=FILTER(A2:A10, SEARCH(CHAR(10004),A2:A10))

Converting Unicode to Plain Text

When converting Unicode text to plain text in Excel or Google Sheets, a combination of SUBSTITUTE and possibly CONCATENATE functions can be used. Here is a method to transform a cell with Unicode text into plain text:

=SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(cell,CHAR(8234)," "),CHAR(8236)," "), CHAR(8206)," ")

Mastering these functions for working with Unicode characters in Excel and Google Sheets can significantly improve your capabilities in handling and analyzing diverse text data across different languages and symbol systems.

More information: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/unicode-function-adb74aaa-a2a5-4dde-aff6-966e4e81f16f

Other functions

ARRAYTOTEXT

Returns an array of text values from any specified range

ASC

Changes full-width (double-byte) English letters or katakana within a character string to half-width (single-byte) characters

BAHTTEXT

Converts a number to text, using the ß (baht) currency format

CHAR

Returns the character specified by the code number

CLEAN

Removes all nonprintable characters from text

CODE

Returns a numeric code for the first character in a text string

CONCAT

Combines the text from multiple ranges and/or strings, but it doesn't provide the delimiter or IgnoreEmpty arguments

CONCATENATE

Joins several text items into one text item

DBCS

Changes half-width (single-byte) English letters or katakana within a character string to full-width (double-byte) characters

DOLLAR

Converts a number to text, using the $ (dollar) currency format

EXACT

Checks to see if two text values are identical

FIND, FINDBs

Finds one text value within another (case-sensitive)

FIXED

Formats a number as text with a fixed number of decimals

JIS

Changes half-width (single-byte) characters within a string to full-width (double-byte) characters

LEFT, LEFTBs

Returns the leftmost characters from a text value

LEN, LENBs

Returns the number of characters in a text string

LOWER

Converts text to lowercase

MID, MIDBs

Returns a specific number of characters from a text string starting at the position you specify

NUMBERVALUE

Converts text to number in a locale-independent manner

PHONETIC

Extracts the phonetic (furigana) characters from a text string

PROPER

Capitalizes the first letter in each word of a text value

REPLACE, REPLACEBs

Replaces characters within text

REPT

Repeats text a given number of times

RIGHT, RIGHTBs

Returns the rightmost characters from a text value

SEARCH, SEARCHBs

Finds one text value within another (not case-sensitive)

SUBSTITUTE

Substitutes new text for old text in a text string

Converts its arguments to text

TEXT

Formats a number and converts it to text

TEXTJOIN

Combines the text from multiple ranges and/or strings, and includes a delimiter you specify between each text value that will be combined If the delimiter is an empty text string, this function will effectively concatenate the ranges

TRIM

Removes spaces from text

UNICHAR

Returns the Unicode character that is references by the given numeric value

UPPER

Converts text to uppercase

VALUE

Converts a text argument to a number

VALUETOTEXT

Returns text from any specified value