Text & Cleanup

Excel formula for Replace the nth occurrence of text

Replace only a specific occurrence of a character, not all of them.

Copy this formula

=SUBSTITUTE(A2, " ", "-", 2)

How the formula works

SUBSTITUTE's optional fourth argument targets a single occurrence by number. Here it swaps only the second space for a dash, leaving the others untouched.

Examples

=SUBSTITUTE("a-b-c-d", "-", " ", 3)→a-b-c d

Only the 3rd dash becomes a space.

FAQ

How do I find the position of the nth occurrence?

Replace it with a unique marker via SUBSTITUTE, then FIND that marker.

Related formulas

Replace part of a text string Find the position of a character

Functions used

SUBSTITUTE FIND

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