How to Use Regex Find and Replace in Excel
Match patterns — not just fixed text — to replace or extract across a column, with capture groups and case control.
Last updated: August 2026
| Cell | Pattern | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Order #1234-A | \d+ | → | 1234 (extract) |
| John Smith | (\w+)\s+(\w+) → $2, $1 | → | Smith, John |
Method 1 — REGEXREPLACE / REGEXEXTRACT (Excel 365)
- Replace matches:
=REGEXREPLACE(A2, "\d+", "")strips every number. - Extract a match:
=REGEXEXTRACT(A2, "[A-Z]{2}\d+")pulls out a code. - Available only on current Excel 365 builds — older versions don't have these functions.
Method 2 — Find & Replace wildcards (any version)
Ctrl + H supports * (any characters) and ? (one character) — handy for simple cases, but it's not real regex (no character classes, quantifiers, or capture groups).
The full-regex way — Tellsheet's Regex Find & Replace
Click Regex Find & Replace, enter a JavaScript-style pattern, and choose Replace (with $1, $2 capture support) or Extract (keep only the matched part). It works on any Excel version — Windows, Mac, and web — with a preview and full revert, and a built-in guard against patterns that would run too slowly.
Frequently asked questions
Does Excel support regular expressions?
Excel 365 added REGEXREPLACE, REGEXEXTRACT, and REGEXTEST. Older versions have only */? wildcards or VBA. Tellsheet's Regex Find & Replace brings full regex to any version.
How do I extract part of a cell with regex?
Use =REGEXEXTRACT(A2, pattern) on 365, or Tellsheet's Regex Find & Replace in Extract mode, which keeps only the matched part of each cell.
Can I use capture groups like $1?
Yes — Tellsheet supports $1, $2 backreferences in the replacement, so you can reorder or reformat matched parts.
Related Excel guides
Regex in Excel, on any version
Get Tellsheet and match, replace, and extract with real regex — with a preview before every change and nothing leaving your PC.
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